China's largest solar power tower project linked to power grid

The Aksai Huidong New Energy solar farm, China's largest solar power tower project, was connected to the power grid at full capacity on Saturday.

Located in Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County in northwest China's Gansu Province, this cutting-edge project sets itself apart by employing Chinese-initiated pentagonal heliostats, each weighing up to 1.2 tons and covering 48 square meters, to receive focused sunlight through the tower.

Altogether, the project boasts a substantial 750 MW installed gross capacity, including 110 MW of solar thermal power and 640 MW of photovoltaic power, with the latter connected to the grid in mid-August.

To reduce power plant costs and address issues such as fluctuations and intermittent blackouts, the project introduced a solution called intelligent coupling -- the integration of various smart technologies to enhance efficiency and monitoring.

"During the day, while the photovoltaic panels continue to generate electricity, the heliostats installed at the solar thermal area collects sunlight and send it to the surface of the heat absorber on the top of the tower to heat the fused slat for storage of the thermal energy. The energy will be released at night to generate steam, which can drive the generator sets to generate electricity. The mode makes it possible to generate electricity for eight hours stably at night, coping with the fluctuations and intermittency of a single photovoltaic power plant and significantly improving the economy of the power station," said Fang Jun, manager of the project.

The solar farm is expected to generate 1.7 billion kWh of power annually.

Large flocks of wintering migratory birds were spotted foraging at a wetland park in Lianyungang City, east China's Jiangsu Province, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions after the last round of cold wave.

Various species, including wild cormorant egrets, spot-billed ducks, and mandarin ducks, stroll on the shallows, with their shadows cast on shimmering water, adding some vitality to the winter scenery.

Thanks to the continuous efforts of the local government on ecological conservation and restoration of water bodies, shorelines and wetland functions, the wetland park has become a stable and safe habitat for migratory birds.

The November-through-March window is the best period for birdwatching at the wetland park, when more than 100 species of birds wintering there.