On September 10, 2024, the Uston CSP and PV integration project in Tuoxun County, Turpan City, Xinjiang, made important progress, and its first batch of 400 MW PV modules were successfully connected to the power grid, marking that the project is the first in Xinjiang to realize the grid-connected operation of the photovoltaic part in batches.

The project, as an important part of the 2022 market-oriented grid-connected new energy project in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is also a key project in the field of new energy during the 14th Five-Year Plan period of Turpan City, covering the construction of 100 MW molten salt tower solar thermal power station and 900 MW photovoltaic power station, with a total planned installed capacity of up to 1 GW and a vast area of about 35,536.7 acres. When fully operational, it is expected to generate 1.7 billion kWh of electricity annually, contributing to the supply of clean energy.

In the construction of the photovoltaic power station, the project adopts an efficient block power generation and centralized grid connection strategy, and the overall system is finely divided into 273 independent photovoltaic power generation units to ensure efficient and flexible power production. After grid connection, it is expected that the power generation capacity will exceed 1.7 billion kWh in the first year, with an equivalent full-load operation time of up to 1,557 hours, demonstrating excellent power generation performance.

At the same time, the solar thermal energy storage part of the project is also eye-catching, with an estimated annual power generation capacity of 101 million kWh and an annual utilization hour of 1,012 hours, which effectively improves the energy self-sufficiency and can replace about 562,400 tons of standard coal per year, which is of great significance for reducing carbon emissions and promoting green development.

Xinjiang has become the leading region of CSP power generation in China, and its installed capacity of CSP ranks first in the country, reaching 1.55 million kilowatts. Xinjiang occupies 16 of the 42 CSP projects under construction nationwide, demonstrating the region's deep accumulation and strong development momentum in the field of CSP technology.

There are also a number of large-scale CSP + PV integration projects in Turpan, including the 1 GW project of China Energy Construction Zhejiang Thermal Power Co., Ltd., the 1 GW project of Tangshan Haitai and the 1 GW project of Henan, the implementation of which will further consolidate and expand Xinjiang's leading position in the field of renewable energy.

The organic combination of photovoltaic and solar thermal not only improves the comprehensive utilization efficiency of solar energy, but also realizes the smooth transition and continuous supply of power supply through the energy storage function of the solar thermal system, laying a solid foundation for building a greener, low-carbon and efficient energy system. This trend is highly consistent with the national policy guidance, and the development goal of solar thermal power generation clearly put forward in the State Council's "Action Plan for Carbon Peaking Before 2030" is leading China's renewable energy field to a new stage of development.Editor/Jiang Mingyue