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.
China's largest solar power tower project linked to power grid
A taxi fleet has been offering free rides to residents and victims in the wake of the recent catastrophic residential building fire in Hong Kong, one of the region's deadliest disasters in decades.
The fire, which broke out at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po on November 26, had claimed 160 lives by Tuesday, with six people still listed as missing, according to authorities.
In response, the "Big Bee" taxi fleet, operated by Sino Development (International) Company, joined several volunteer groups in providing free rides for affected residents.
Beyond transporting displaced survivors, the fleet also assisted in moving donated supplies and volunteers to and from the area.
"In the first few days, drivers came to the site voluntarily to offer help. There were many firefighters and rescuers on site. During the ten days from December 1 to 10, we offered about 100 free rides daily on average, serving roughly 300 residents and fire victims each day," said Sam Wong, founder and CEO of Sino Development (International) Company.
"We are very willing to take part in this effort. Every driver is," said Lui Kai-wa, a taxi driver.
As most displaced residents have now been relocated through government coordination, volunteer taxi drivers are gradually returning to their regular routes.
More than 2,500 displaced residents have moved into transitional housing units, with Hong Kong's Transport Department providing additional public transport services to meet commuting needs.
"There is a gradual decrease in usage, as much of the transportation need for people and supplies has already been completed. Demand is clearly declining," Lui said.
Wong also praised the government's role in the relief work.
"Over the past few days, we've seen the government carry out a tremendous amount of work, especially in response to such a big and serious disaster. Its role has been very significant," Wong said.
Taxi feet offers free rides to residents, victims in wake of deadly Hong Kong residential building fire
