On September 26, 2026, the final concrete pouring at an altitude of 211.4 meters was completed. At the edge of the Kubuqi Desert, the walls of the four intercooled towers are all at the top, like four towering pillars piercing into the yellow sand. More than 4400 builders are still working during the Mid Autumn Festival, and over 170 machines are roaring day and night, just to quickly lift the coal power base.

Four Optimus Prime pillars stand tall in the desert

These four indirect cooling towers, also known as indirect air cooling towers, have a total height of 211.4 meters. Their core task is to cool the circulating water of the unit and ensure the normal operation of the thermal cycle. They are key structures for the safe and stable operation of the unit. It does not follow the conventional route, and the circulating water flows in a closed pipeline without direct contact with the air. It adopts an indirect heat exchange mode, greatly reducing the evaporation loss of water resources, which is in line with the drought and water shortage of the Kubuqi Desert. The project also adopts a four tower integrated layout of indirect cooling tower, chimney, desulfurization absorption tower, and wastewater concentration tower. The radiator tower is vertically arranged outside, which saves more land and space, and significantly increases the construction difficulty. This paves the way for the subsequent construction of circulating water system, flue gas desulfurization system, and desulfurization wastewater zero discharge system.

Coal based energy storage serves as a cornerstone for green electricity

The project is located on the edge of the Kubuqi Desert in Dalat Banner, Inner Mongolia. It plans to construct four 1 million kilowatt indirect air-cooled high-efficiency ultra supercritical coal-fired units, which will be the supporting power source for China's first 10 million kilowatt level large-scale wind and photovoltaic base in Shagehuang. Keywords: Kubuqi coal-fired power, indirect cooling tower to the top

As one of the world's first gigawatt level coal-fired electrochemical coupling frequency regulation and peak shaving demonstration projects, it enables deep collaboration between coal-fired power and energy storage, significantly improves flexible regulation and rapid response capabilities, and becomes the core peak shaving power source of the base. The total installed capacity of the new energy base in the northern part of Kubu is 16.2 million kilowatts, including 8 million photovoltaics, 4 million wind power, and 200000 solar thermal power. It is equipped with 4 x 1 million coal-fired power plants and 5 million kilowatt hours of energy storage. The innovative development of new energy bases, supporting coal-fired power plants, and transmission channels are integrated into a three in one coordinated model, which combines the four major elements of large-scale new energy development, wind solar thermal energy storage, cross provincial power transmission, and desert ecological governance. After the base is fully built, it can deliver about 40 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region annually, with clean electricity accounting for over 50% and a new energy utilization rate of over 90%.Editor/Min Jing