The construction red line for the supporting external roads between the mountains at the border of Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hunan provinces has been delineated. As the largest single energy project since the establishment of Hezhou City, the first pumped storage project of Guangxi's state-owned enterprises will officially start road construction at the end of September. With a green energy investment of 8.33 billion yuan, a core energy storage hub supporting the new regional power system will be built in this mountainous area.

The formation of cross provincial regulatory hubs

The total dynamic investment of the project is about 8.33 billion yuan, with a designed total installed capacity of 1.4 million kilowatts and the installation of four reversible water pump turbine units with a single capacity of 350000 kilowatts. The project site covers Butou Town and Nanxiang Town in Babu District, Hezhou City, relying on the advantageous location at the junction of the three provinces, forming a strategic depth for cross provincial power regulation.

During periods of low electricity consumption, the project will utilize surplus electricity from the power grid to extract water from the lower reservoir and store it in the upper reservoir. During peak electricity usage periods, the water stored in the upper reservoir is released to drive the unit to generate electricity and deliver clean electricity to the power grid. With the flexible feature of quick start stop adjustment, the project can simultaneously undertake multiple functions such as peak shaving, frequency regulation, phase modulation, emergency backup, etc. According to the latest operating data of Guangxi Power Grid in 2026, the installed capacity of new energy in the whole region increased by 41% year-on-year in 2025. The peak shaving pressure of the power grid in northern Guangxi continues to rise, and it is expected that the peak shaving capacity gap in the northern Guangxi area will reach 4.42 million kilowatts by 2035. After the project is put into operation, it will directly fill this core gap.

Green development and industrial linkage

The project is a key implementation project of the National Energy Administration's medium and long-term development plan for pumped storage during the 15th Five Year Plan period, and it is also one of the first batch of pumped storage projects approved for promotion during the 15th Five Year Plan period in China. The green construction principle of minimizing disturbance, maximizing protection, and timely restoration is implemented throughout the entire project. By optimizing the project layout, the balance of soil and rock on site is achieved, reducing interference with the surrounding ecology. As the first pumped storage project in Guangxi to plan and construct a fish transportation system, it will fully guarantee the ecological flow of the river and create a green demonstration project of mountain and power station symbiosis.

During the project construction period, the average annual GDP growth can exceed 1 billion yuan, directly providing about 3000 job opportunities and driving the agglomeration of upstream and downstream industries such as engineering construction equipment manufacturing, operation, and maintenance. The synchronous construction of 40 kilometers of external highways will directly improve the travel conditions of the people along the route. By 2035, the project can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.34 million tons, sulfur dioxide by 9500 tons, and nitrogen oxides by 7400 tons annually. Keywords: energy storage news, pumped storage

The wind in the mountains passes through the undeveloped project site, and this giant energy storage station hidden in the mountains will gradually take shape in the coming years, providing continuous core support for the new energy consumption and power grid stability in the eastern and northern regions of Guangxi.Editor/Cheng Liting