Guided by the "dual carbon" goal, China's energy structure transformation is advancing with unprecedented depth and breadth. On November 27, 2025, a bidding announcement from Linyi Public Resource Trading Center directed the public's attention to a depth of kilometers underground in southeastern Shandong. The underground pumped storage power station project in Junan County, Linyi, Shandong Province has officially started bidding. This super project, with an estimated total investment of 14.8 billion yuan, not only refreshes people's understanding of traditional pumped storage, but also marks a milestone step for China in the development and utilization of deep underground space and large-scale, long-term energy storage technology.

The project is planned to be located in Junan County, at the border of Shandong and Jiangsu provinces. The plan is to cleverly utilize the existing Xianggou Reservoir as the upper reservoir and innovatively excavate a horizontal tunnel at a depth of about 1000 meters underground to form a huge "underground artificial lake" as the lower reservoir. The proposed installed capacity of the project is 2.1 million kilowatts, with a designed energy storage capacity of up to 8.4 million kilowatt hours, far exceeding the Yimeng pumped storage power station in the same region. From the announcement of the landmark to the launch of the project, this blueprint for the construction of a "deep underground super power bank" carries multiple strategic missions to ensure the safety of the regional power grid, absorb clean energy, and serve green development.

Deep underground kilometers, building a world-class new paradigm of energy storage

The core innovation of the Junan underground pumped storage power station in this bidding is to obtain space from the deep parts of the earth. Unlike conventional ground power stations that rely on natural mountain terrain differences, this project plans to use hard rock excavation machines or drilling and blasting methods to excavate into hard rock layers thousands of meters deep underground, constructing a horizontal tunnel style giant lower reservoir. This design can maximize the conservation of surface land resources and minimize the impact on the ecological environment.

The main construction content includes the upper reservoir project, underground lower reservoir tunnel, underground power plant, substation and switch station and other ancillary facilities. Among them, the estimated construction and installation cost of the project is about 11 billion yuan, highlighting the technical complexity and high cost of underground ultra deep engineering construction. Once completed, its installed capacity of 2.1 million kilowatts and energy storage capacity of 8.4 million kilowatt hours will make it a benchmark in the field of deep pumped storage in China and even the world, providing valuable "Chinese solutions" and technical standards for similar projects in the future.

Every second counts, paint a picture of operations spanning half a century

According to the bidding documents, the project construction follows rigorous scientific planning and efficient schedule. The winning bidder will immediately carry out preliminary work after the contract is signed. After the project is included in the key planning, it will enter the intensive design and approval stage: the pre feasibility study report review needs to be completed within 10 months, and the feasibility study report review needs to be completed within 18 months. The construction period of the main project is set at 66 months, which is 5 and a half years. This requires the contractor to have strong resource integration and complex project management capabilities.

More importantly, the project is planned for a 50 year operational period. This means that this deep underground power station is not only a major infrastructure investment, but also a strategic asset that requires long-term stable operation and continuous provision of key services such as peak shaving, valley filling, backup, and black start for the power grid. It will become the "ballast stone" for the safe and stable operation of East China Power Grid and efficient consumption of clean energy in the next half century.

Empowering the region and serving the new pattern of national energy security

The strategic value of the Junan project goes far beyond its astonishing investment and scale. From a location perspective, it is located at the border of Shandong and Jiangsu provinces, in the central area of the eastern electricity load, and can efficiently serve Linyi, Rizhao, Lianyungang, and even the entire East China power grid, enhancing inter provincial power mutual assistance and emergency support capabilities. From a technical perspective, it is a pioneering practice in China's exploration of deep space resource utilization and the tackling of world-class problems in ultra deep underground engineering construction, representing the development direction of new energy storage technologies.

From the perspective of energy transformation, with the rapid increase in the proportion of intermittent renewable energy installations such as wind power and photovoltaics, the demand for large-scale, long-term, and high reliability energy storage in the power grid is becoming increasingly urgent. This "super power bank" with a designed energy storage capacity of 8.4 million kWh can store surplus green electricity and stably output it during peak electricity consumption. It is an indispensable key infrastructure for building a new type of power system dominated by new energy. Its construction is another solid foundation for Shandong Province and even China to implement the "dual carbon" goals, optimize the energy structure, and ensure energy security. Keywords: Energy Storage Latest News, Energy Storage New Energy News

From the Yimeng Mountain area to the underground kilometer, from blueprint planning to bidding initiation, the Linyi Junan underground pumped storage power station project is accelerating from conception to reality. This grand project with a total investment of 14.8 billion yuan will not only create a technological monument underground, but also continue to inject green momentum into regional economic development in the coming decades, contributing Shandong's strength to the national energy revolution and security. With the advancement of bidding, an era of deep underground energy storage is beginning. Editor/Yang Beihua