On the Gobi Desert in Delingha City, Qinghai Province, a group of "super mirrors" with a total area of nearly 6000 square meters are shining brightly under the scorching sun on the plateau.

On April 21, 2026, CGN received exciting news: the complete set of equipment and technology for the world's largest opening, the 8.6-meter molten salt trough collector, independently developed by CGN, has successfully completed technical verification at the CGN Thermal Power Test Base. This not only marks China's comprehensive mastery of the core technology of molten salt trough heat collection, but also drops a "technological depth bomb" in the global field of solar thermal power generation.

break a world record

As the largest standard molten salt trough collector testing system in the world in terms of opening size, the core of this pilot platform - the trough collector system - adopts a standard modular design. According to Yin Hang, the chief expert of CGN photothermal technology models, this array consists of four sets of 182 meter long collectors, with an effective heat collection area of 5970 square meters and a concentration ratio of 107.5 times.

Compared with traditional thermal oil systems, this "molten salt solution" demonstrates astonishing explosive power: it can achieve stable operation from 290 ℃ inlet to 550 ℃ outlet, with an energy storage temperature difference of 260 ℃, which is 2.6 times that of thermal oil systems. This means that with the same land area, its energy storage capacity and power generation efficiency have achieved exponential leaps, and the power grid's peak shaving guarantee capability has been significantly enhanced.

Fearless of extreme cold and strong winds

The key to the advancement of technology lies in practical testing. Since it was put into operation, the system has remained stable under the extreme weather of minus 23 ℃ and force 9 gales, and the maximum heat collection temperature has climbed to 574 ℃. After strict third-party testing, the optical efficiency of the collector unit and the heat collection efficiency of the circuit have fully met the standards, verifying its performance stability under typical working conditions such as winter solstice and spring equinox.

According to the latest industry data, as of the end of 2023, the global installed capacity of solar thermal power has exceeded 7GW. As a rising star, China's installed capacity has exceeded 500MW, ranking among the top in the world. Since its establishment in 2011, CGN has built China's first large-scale commercial solar thermal demonstration power station and the largest single tower solar thermal project. Keywords: Tower type solar thermal project, molten salt trough collector

Hu Guangyao, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of CGN New Energy Holdings Co., Ltd., stated that CGN will accelerate the engineering application of this large opening molten salt trough collector.Editor/Cheng Liting