The first gigawatt-scale power project combining solar thermal and photovoltaic power generation was fully connected to the national power grid on Saturday in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, becoming the first such project in the region.
Located in Hami City, the Shichengzi clean energy demonstration project was launched by China Datang Corporation in 2024. The project's core equipment and 98 percent of its facilities are domestically made.
"The project consists of a 900-megawatt photovoltaic power plant and a 100-megawatt linear Fresnel molten salt thermal energy storage solar power plant, which has China's first 35-kilowatt electromagnetic induction molten salt heater," said Yu Yongbo, director of security at the group's local office.
According to Datang, the 900-megawatt photovoltaic power plant had been previously connected to the grid, and last week's operations were mainly to connect the 100-megawatt solar thermal power plant to the grid.
The Fresnel solar thermal power project, China's largest and Xinjiang's first, has a collection area of 800,000 square meters, comprising 260,000 reflectors, and 46 vacuum tubes measuring 55.2 kilometers in length.
It's estimated that upon completion, the project will produce 2.21 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which can meet the annual needs of about 800,000 households.
First gigawatt-scale solar hybrid project reaches full grid connection in Xinjiang
