When operating at full capacity, the Wulate Zhongqi solar thermal power plant in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region can meet the electricity needs of 300,000 households.
Wulate Zhongqi solar thermal power plant in Inner Mongolia. (Photo: Xinhua).
Designed and built by China Shipbuilding New Power, the Wulate Zhongqi solar thermal power plant is the largest parabolic trough power plant in China, having generated 330 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity over the past 12 months, Xinhua reported on April 12.
The plant is located in Urad Middle Banner, in the Bayan Nur city of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. This area is known as one of the best regions in China for developing large-scale and concentrated new energy.
Wulate Zhongqi passed the national acceptance test and began operations in October 2021. With a capacity of 100 MW, it operates 24/7 at full capacity, capable of meeting the daily evening electricity demands of 300,000 households.
The Wulate Zhongqi plant uses a parabolic trough system to concentrate sunlight onto a heat collector. The thermal energy is then used to generate steam, which drives the turbine to produce electricity. (Photo: Xinhua)
Zhu Shengguo, the general manager of the power plant, noted that in the first quarter of this year, the company resolved a technical bottleneck related to cleaning the interior of the system during winter, resulting in an increase in electricity production of 19.5 million kilowatt-hours compared to the same quarter last year.
In addition to providing a stable power supply, the Wulate Zhongqi solar thermal power plant also serves as a windbreak to preserve and restore the local ecology.
