In late March 2026, on the Gobi Desert at the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, the roar of machinery broke the previous silence. As a key project in the 14th Five Year Plan of the National Energy Administration, the Ruoqiang Pumped Storage Power Station in Xinjiang has sounded the call for comprehensive resumption of work.

More than 1300 builders and over 300 large machinery are working together on various work surfaces of the upper and lower reservoirs and water transmission and power generation systems. At present, the ventilation and safety tunnel, the access tunnel to the factory, and the connecting road between the upper and lower warehouses have been fully connected, and the TBM excavation of the water supply tunnel has exceeded the 1254 meter mark. This energy giant dam, with a total investment of 15.677 billion yuan and a total installed capacity of 2.1 million kilowatts, is sprinting towards the goal of generating the first unit of electricity by 2030 in a "full capacity" state.

Chen Zhen, the head of the Construction Management Department of Ruoqiang Pumped Storage Power Generation Co., Ltd., introduced that currently 310 management personnel and more than 1000 construction personnel have all returned to their posts, and all work surfaces such as the construction management base, water supply system engineering, and excavation and filling of upper and lower reservoirs have been laid out.

As of now, in addition to the relevant road connections and TBM excavation, the supporting ancillary projects such as the front camp have also been basically completed. The excavation of the first floor of the main factory building, which will start in October 2025, is laying the foundation for the subsequent construction of the main structure. This year, we will focus on key milestones such as factory excavation, filling of upper and lower reservoirs, and excavation of water diversion tunnels to ensure that the construction period is not delayed, "said Zou Wensheng, a member of the company's party committee and chief engineer. All participating units are striving to complete the construction task with high quality within the total construction period of 81 months through scientific scheduling.

This super power bank with an installed capacity of 2.1 million kilowatts is not only a peak shaving and valley filling tool for the Southern Xinjiang power grid, but also a key link in the consumption of 21 million kilowatts of new energy in the service area. Keywords: New Energy News, Energy Storage

After being put into operation, it will act as a huge stabilizer, smoothing out fluctuations in wind and solar power generation and providing solid green support for energy security in the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt. When the sandstorms of the Gobi sweep over towering dams, clean hydropower will be continuously delivered to thousands of households through ultra-high voltage channels, injecting strong impetus into the green and low-carbon development of Xinjiang.Editor/Cheng Liting