China News Service, Beijing, September 5 (Zhang Wenhui) As the sunlight slowly flows, tens of thousands of mirrors adjust their pitch angles in sequence, and the light and shadow under the tower are constantly changing. This is not a natural wonder, but a real operation scene of a new energy base. The 233-meter-high heat absorption tower of the solar thermal power station and 19,667 high-precision heliostats jointly demonstrate the operation process of the solar thermal power station chasing light and gathering energy.
Recently, China News Network followed the theme event of "Entering New State-owned Enterprises - Gathering Momentum to Start a New Journey" by the News Center of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council into Baicheng, Jilin, and visited my country's highest latitude and the first solar thermal power station in Northeast China - CGN Jixi 100,000-kilowatt solar thermal power station.
Aerial panoramic view of the 100,000-kilowatt solar thermal power station at the CGN Jixi Base. Photo provided by the organizer
Solving key problems in high-altitude cold weather and creating new paths for high-latitude solar thermal construction
"The CGN Jixi 100,000-kilowatt CSP plant was put into operation on June 29, 2026, filling the gap in CSP power generation in Northeast my country. The entire project chain from design, construction to operation and maintenance is technologically independent and controllable, and provides a replicable and promoteable demonstration model for the large-scale development of 'CSP+' integrated projects in similar regions in my country." Jiang Tonghai, Secretary of the Party Branch and Chairman of CGN (Jilin) New Energy Investment Co., Ltd. introduced.
It is understood that the project is located in the western part of the Songnen Plain at 45.36 degrees north latitude, where the lowest temperature reaches minus 37.3 degrees Celsius and the maximum wind speed reaches level 9. At the same time, it also faces multiple engineering problems such as saline-alkali geology, high groundwater levels, and heavy soil. Prior to this, there were no mature cases of large-scale commercial CSP power plants being put into operation at the same latitude in China, and there was no ready-made experience to draw from for project construction.
"There is no precedent, so we have to find our own way." Zhao Xiong, general manager of CGN Jixi Solar Thermal Project Company, said in an interview that the project team targeted various practical pain points of the alpine site to carry out systematic technical research, open up the entire chain of design, construction, operation and maintenance, and master a set of key technologies suitable for severe cold and harsh sites.
At the design level, the project pioneered the eccentric layout plan of the high-latitude mirror field. The heat absorption tower is offset about 200 meters south from the center of the mirror field. The asymmetric layout offsets the cosine effect caused by low sun height and improves the annual heat collection efficiency of the power station. In the construction process, innovative low-temperature anti-freeze pile foundation technology was used. The pipe piles penetrated 6.2 meters below the frozen soil layer, and were equipped with closed pile tips and weather-resistant coatings to simultaneously eliminate the two major risks of frozen soil frost heaving and saline-alkali corrosion. A large storage tank composite waterproofing system was developed and adopted an integrated solution of "multi-layer structural anti-seepage, multiple monitoring fortifications, and multiple self-controlled drainage" to solve the problems of moisture return and water accumulation deformation in molten salt storage tanks. In terms of engineering precision control, the project innovated friction load-bearing construction technology to control the vertical deviation of the heat-absorbing tower body within 10 mm; relying on self-developed special tooling, it completed the high-altitude and precise hoisting of 1.5 mm thin-walled tube panels, setting an industry record for hoisting 6 panels in a single day.
A set of measured data confirms the effectiveness of technical research. On July 16, the local lighting conditions were excellent, with the highest irradiance reaching 921 watts/square meter. Monitoring showed that the molten salt temperature at the outlet of the heat absorber was maintained at 565 degrees Celsius, and the hot salt temperature rose to 555 degrees Celsius. The heat absorption system operated continuously and safely for 12 hours, with a total heat collection of 2482.47 MWh, reaching 100.5% of the theoretical calculation value; the solar heat conversion efficiency was 62%, better than the design index, and stable operation at 90% of the rated load was achieved. The reliability of the entire equipment and the stability of the system working conditions were fully tested.
Just over a month after it was put into operation, the power station successfully completed the 77.5-hour unit continuous operation and full-load performance test on August 11. On August 8, the unit was connected to the grid and started running smoothly until August 11, with a total power generation of 2.92 million kilowatt-hours. Among them, the single-day power generation on August 9 was 1.064 million kilowatt-hours, setting a new record for the highest power generation in a single day after the project was put into operation, indicating that the power station has long-term stable power generation and full-load commercial operation capabilities.
As a pioneer in the domestic field of solar thermal power generation, CGN has continued to accumulate technological strength through a series of projects, and has successfully been approved to build the only national R&D platform in the domestic field of solar thermal power - the National Energy Solar Thermal Power Generation Technology R&D Center. It has successively built the Delingha 50 MW CSP Demonstration Power Station, the Delingha 1 million Kilowatt solar thermal storage integrated project, Jixi 100,000 kilowatt tower solar thermal power station; construction of the world's highest trough solar thermal power station - the Tibet Umatang 50,000 kilowatt solar thermal power station - and the world's largest single-machine heat storage capacity and largest mirror field solar thermal power station - Qinghai Golmud 350,000 kilowatt solar thermal demonstration project. So far, CGN has completed a total of 19 scientific and technological achievement appraisals in the field of photothermal, obtained 68 authorized patents, edited or participated in the compilation of 30 national and industry standards, and assisted the standardized development of the industry.
It is worth mentioning that on July 16 this year, CGN released the world's first 8.6-meter-opening photothermal molten salt tank collector model "Yuanyao No. 1", which achieved important breakthroughs in photoelectric conversion efficiency and independent control of the entire chain, providing core equipment support for domestic large-scale photothermal development.
Multi-energy coupling acts as a new power system "stabilizer"
In the wilderness of Da'an City, white wind turbines spread continuously along the horizon, their blades turning slowly in the autumn wind. Stretching tens of kilometers eastward from this wind farm, continuous photovoltaic panels and towering heat-absorbing towers come into view one after another. CGN has laid out various new energy formats such as wind power, photovoltaic, and solar thermal in Da'an, Jilin, and established an integrated coordinated operation system of "wind, solar, and thermal storage".
Wind and solar power generation are naturally intermittent and volatile, while photothermal power generation follows the "light-heat-electricity" conversion path and comes with 8 hours of long-term molten salt energy storage, which can achieve stable and continuous power generation for 24 hours and has the inherent advantage of peak and frequency regulation. The Jixi 100,000-kilowatt solar thermal power station is equipped with a 40,000-kilowatt molten salt electric heater, which can absorb excess wind power and photovoltaic power and convert electrical energy into thermal energy storage; when wind and solar output is insufficient and electricity consumption reaches a peak, thermal energy generation is released to fill the power gap, achieve peak shaving and valley filling, reduce fluctuations in new energy output, and improve comprehensive energy utilization efficiency. At the same time, the unit supports quick start and stop, flexible load adjustment, improved power quality, and enhanced grid operation stability.
Zhao Xiong used an analogy to say that this multi-energy collaborative system is equivalent to installing a giant "power bank" and "stabilizer" on a new energy base. CSP plants can not only store surplus power, but also quickly respond to grid dispatch and dynamically adjust output to maintain system frequency and voltage stability. After the project is put into operation, it will also improve the power transmission stability and utilization efficiency of the Lu-Gu DC 1.4 million kilowatt external transmission channel, promote the export of green power to Northeast China and eastern Mongolia, and serve Shandong to serve the coordinated development of cross-regional energy.
Industrial empowerment injects new momentum into the green transformation of Northeast China
A power station drives an industry. The implementation of the Jixi CSP plant is not only a major breakthrough at the technical level, but also stimulates the growth of the entire industry chain of equipment manufacturing and operation and maintenance services, achieving synergistic gains in economic, ecological and social benefits.
It is estimated that after the project is completed, the annual power generation will reach 180 million kilowatt-hours, saving about 54,000 tons of standard coal every year, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 139,000 tons. The carbon reduction effect is outstanding. A total of more than 2,000 jobs have been created during the project construction and operation phases, covering engineering construction, equipment installation, operation and maintenance management and other fields, and absorbing a large number of local labor force employment. It has also transformed saline-alkali land that was originally difficult to develop into a green energy base and explored new models for efficient land use in ecologically fragile areas.
At the Dagangzi Wind Farm, CGN's first wind turbine "Kaiyuan" has been operating stably for 19 years. It not only achieved a breakthrough of "zero" wind power installed capacity, but also verified the feasibility of long-term operation of wind turbines in severe cold environments at high latitudes. The implementation of the Jixi CSP plant has further expanded the local industrial chain to high-end links such as high-end CSP equipment, new material research and development, and intelligent operation and maintenance.
Ji Wenbo, member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of China General Nuclear Power New Energy Holdings Co., Ltd., said that CGN’s innovative practice of solar thermal has driven the coordinated development of about 600 upstream and downstream companies, helping to upgrade traditional industries and cultivate emerging industries. In the next step, CGN will use the Jixi CSP station as a benchmark to continue to iterate on CSP technology, explore a new integrated model of "wind, solar and thermal storage", promote large-scale and high-quality development of the CSP industry, and contribute to the overall revitalization of Northeast China, national energy security and low-carbon transformation. (over)
