In the heart of the Gurbantunggut Desert, five giant circular energy storage arrays are arranged in a staggered manner, resembling five ring medals embedded in a sandy sea. This highly technological architectural complex is a super large capacity energy storage project created by Xinjiang Huadian. The construction team innovates construction and technical models according to local conditions, overcomes the difficulties of desert construction, and builds the largest single electrochemical independent energy storage power station in the country, laying a solid guarantee for the stable development of regional new energy.

Taking advantage of the situation to create scenery and protect the ecology

The energy storage demonstration project is located in Midong District of Urumqi, covering an area of 423.59 mu, and will be connected to the grid with full capacity on December 15, 2025. At present, it is in the final commissioning stage of switching from grid connection to commercial operation. The total scale of the project is 1 million kilowatts/400 million kilowatt hours, equipped with 196 energy storage units and 730 battery compartments. Each unit can store 5000 kWh of electricity per hour, and the entire station can meet the daily electricity needs of hundreds of thousands of households in Urumqi when fully charged. The comprehensive charging and discharging efficiency of the equipment reaches 86.31%. In response to the large height difference of desert sand dunes, the project abandons the traditional regular layout and relies on natural terrain to sort out the earthwork, completing 2.48 million cubic meters of earthwork regular operation, achieving zero waste and zero external transportation throughout the process, and maximizing the protection of the original ecology of the desert.

Dual mode stable network improves efficiency

The innovation of the power station adopts a dual-mode energy storage architecture of grid building and grid following, relying on liquid lithium iron phosphate energy storage modules and a complete set of intelligent control systems to achieve efficient energy storage and stable output. The system can store surplus green electricity in the power grid during low demand periods, accurately discharge and fill gaps during high demand periods, effectively solving the problems of intermittency and volatility in wind, solar, and photovoltaic power. As of mid June 2026, the project has accumulated 367 charging and discharging cycles, with 756 million kWh of charging and 652 million kWh of discharging. The power loss is controlled within 14%, providing reliable technical support for the high proportion of new energy grid connection.

Fill in the regional energy gap

The Beishawo area of Urumqi is a local core photovoltaic resource area with an installed capacity of over 20 million kilowatts. Currently, 15 new energy projects have been approved in the area, with a cumulative investment of over 26 billion yuan, and the city's new energy installed capacity accounts for 73%. In the past, photovoltaic power generation faced the problem of light abandonment due to surplus during the day and shortage at night. The operation of this energy storage power station effectively solved the development bottleneck. Relying on the supporting 220 kV transmission line, clean green electricity directly reaches the urban load center. In May 2026, Urumqi's green electricity trading volume and green certificate trading volume ranked first in Xinjiang, and public institutions achieved full coverage of green electricity.

Empowering the overall development of energy

As a key component of the new power system construction in Xinjiang, this power station is in line with the energy development plan of the autonomous region. Currently, the six major new energy bases in Xinjiang with a capacity of 10 million kilowatts have taken shape, with new energy installed capacity accounting for over 60%. This year, more than 19.3 billion kilowatt hours of green electricity have been exported, benefiting 23 provinces, regions, and municipalities across the country. This project not only accumulates experience in desert energy storage operation and maintenance, but also creates a model of green infrastructure in the desert. It also connects the development chain of source network load storage integration, helping Xinjiang steadily move from an energy region to an energy strong region.Editor/Min Jing