On October 25, the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) celebrated a significant milestone in its Delingha 200,000-kilowatt solar thermal project in Qinghai Province. The completion of the thermal power tower and the main plant building marks the near end of the construction phase, paving the way for the upcoming installation stage.
Located in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, CGN’s headquarters facilitates operations for this ambitious project, which is part of CGN’s integrated 1,000,000-kilowatt solar thermal and photovoltaic initiative in Delingha. Liu Yiding, the General Manager of CGN Solar Delingha Co., shared insights about the project, emphasizing its capacity for 800,000 kilowatts of photovoltaic power generation and 200,000 kilowatts of solar thermal generation. With a energy storage duration of six hours and a solar thermal storage ratio of 25%, this project boasts the highest storage ratio for solar thermal systems in China to date. The photovoltaic segment of the project has exceeded 95% completion and is on track to connect to the grid by the end of the year.
The design of the thermal power tower employs a variable cross-section reinforced concrete structure, standing tall at 188.5 meters. Its base has a diameter of 25 meters, tapering to 21.4 meters at the top, utilizing a formwork construction technique. Since mid-April, the project has taken 199 days to complete the tower’s concrete pouring. The main building design integrates the steam generation and turbine rooms to effectively reduce pressure loss in the main and reheating steam pipelines, thus enhancing the efficiency of the turbine generator set.
Researcher Wang Zhifeng from the Institute of Electrical Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences stated that CGN’s integrated project will showcase technological innovations in large-scale photovoltaic, solar thermal, and energy storage systems, confirming its role as a demonstration for engineering verification. This initiative is expected to significantly enhance the capacity for peak shaving and energy storage in Qinghai Province, improving the stability and quality of the power supply and contributing to ecological and economic sustainability in the region.
Yang Tao, Secretary of the Party Branch at CGN Solar Delingha Co., mentioned that once the integrated 1,000,000-kilowatt project is operational, it is projected to generate 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. This will equate to the conservation of roughly 550,000 tons of standard coal and a reduction of about 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, yielding both significant economic benefits and positive environmental impacts.
