When the cold winter night winds through the Gobi Desert, the molten salt storage tank of the 1 million kilowatt solar thermal and photovoltaic integrated project of Three Gorges Energy in Hami continues to release heat, sending clean electricity into the grid. As of now, the installed capacity of solar thermal power in Hami region has reached 250000 kilowatts, ranking first in Xinjiang. Relying on abundant solar thermal resources, Hami innovatively promotes the integrated development model of solar thermal and photovoltaic, attracting leading enterprises in industries such as Three Gorges, China Energy Construction, and Datang to lay out and create a new model for the construction of Shagehuang Energy Base.

Solar thermal installed capacity ranks first in Xinjiang

Hami City is based on the strategic layout of the national Shagehuang large-scale energy base, and the solar thermal new energy industry is experiencing rapid development. As of now, the installed capacity of regional solar thermal power has reached 250000 kilowatts, ranking first in Xinjiang. As a core node in the development of new energy in Xinjiang, Hami relies on abundant solar thermal resources to innovate and promote the integrated development model of solar thermal and photovoltaic, attracting leading enterprises in industries such as Three Gorges, China Energy Engineering Group, and Datang to set up their presence. These clean electricity not only provide support for the safe and stable operation of the Hami power grid, but also are transmitted to the central and eastern regions through ultra-high voltage transmission channels, fulfilling the mission of West East Power Transmission.

Hundred MW Fresnel project put into operation

The Three Gorges Energy Hami 1 million kilowatt solar thermal and photovoltaic integrated project is located in the Gobi Desert of Xishan Township, Yizhou District, covering an area of about 1817 hectares. It consists of a 900000 kilowatt photovoltaic and a 100000 kilowatt solar thermal power station, and is the largest linear Fresnel type solar thermal integrated energy demonstration project in China. The project will start construction in November 2023 and be fully completed and put into operation in September 2025, successfully increasing the previous 50000 kW technology scale to 100000 kW. The localization rate of mirror field equipment has reached 100%, and the localization rate of core equipment is as high as 95%. The overall project cost has been reduced by about 30%. Continuous power supply for 4 to 6 hours at night during spring and winter, and up to 6 to 8 hours in summer and autumn, with an average annual production of about 2.067 billion kilowatt hours of clean electricity. Keywords: infrastructure projects, solar thermal resources, photovoltaics

Technological innovation to crack extreme environments

In response to the extreme environment of winter temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius in Hami, as well as issues such as strong sandstorms and dusty mirror areas, the project team has developed a new anti condensation operation process to prevent molten salt freezing. Robot dry cleaning is used instead of traditional water washing to improve efficiency and save water resources. The first one key start stop system for photovoltaic power plants in China has been successfully developed. The China Energy Construction Hami Molten Salt Tower 50 MW Solar Thermal Power Generation Demonstration Project adopts the domestically pioneered pentagonal giant lizard style sun setting mirror, which can achieve 24-hour uninterrupted power supply. The booming development of the solar thermal industry has driven the aggregation of the entire industry chain, including equipment manufacturing and operation and maintenance services. Hami is continuously deepening its cultivation in the solar thermal field and striving to build a national demonstration benchmark for the solar thermal industry.Editor/Gao Xue