Page 15 - AsiaElec Week 02 2023

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

China sets round-the-

clock solar energy record

CHINA CHINA’S 100-MW Wulate trough concentrated Located in Inner Mongolia at a high latitude
solar power (CSP) project has set a new record of 1.5 degrees, Wulate is the first CSP project to
for non-stop solar power generation by running achieve full operation this far north in China,
continuously for 12 days, the report states. The operating efficiency of the
China’s Solar Thermal Alliance said that dur- locally produced trough solar collector exceeded
ing the plant’s first year of operations in 2022, expectations for such a high latitude.
it had generated 300,000 MWh of solar energy This Inner Mongolian CSP project was built
after opening on January 8, 2022. to supply the most hours daily of thermal storage
In June the plant, located in Inner Mongolia, of all the pilot CSP projects in China.
ran continuously for 12 days from June 4 to June To supply more thermal energy storage in
15, even though there were overcast skies for six CSP, the developer builds a larger solar field in
of those days. By using solar thermal technology relation to the steam turbine and power block
alongside CSP, it generated over 22,000 MWh capacity, so there is a greater surplus of solar
during the 12 days, with capacity reaching 106 energy available to store.
MW. Like all trough CSP, the heat is gathered and
The project is a 100-MW/1,000-MWh heat transmitted in a thermal heat transfer fluid that
transfer oil tank-type photothermal power gen- runs through small-diameter piping throughout
eration demonstration project. the solar field, heated by concentrated sunlight
The plant collects solar energy in the form of reflected off the parabolic solar trough collectors.
heat in a trough by using CSP technology, before Wulate was built by a division of the China
storing the heat thermally and running a thermal Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC)
power plant (TPP) when the sun is not shining. called New Energy Co.
The project, one of China’s pilot trough CSP CSIC comprises 96 engineering enterprises
projects, includes thermal energy storage so it located in northern China and employs over
can generate solar energy through the night. 300,000 people. Many big firms like CSIC in
All of the Chinese CSP projects, both the China have engineering expertise in thermal
pilot projects and the 30 new ones underway as power block components, which are similar to
of 2023, include thermal storage. coal power stations.
China has an unusual energy requirement Instead of burning fossil fuel, a trough CSP
that needs more 24-hour power than western plant generates heat at between 400-500°C, the
nations. This is due to a higher percentage of load temperature used in running a thermal power
from overnight factory operations. station.
Supplying this load from solar energy helps CSIC says that the operating efficiency of
China decarbonise its energy use at low cost. the domestic trough collector exceeded its
This is why China has emphasised building CSP expectations.™
in concert with PV and wind. CSP enables ther-
mally stored solar energy.

Week 02 10•January•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P15