On January 28, the first group of panels in the photovoltaic base along Xiaojinchuan River in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, were connected to the grid. The base, constructed by Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA), is the country’s first project integrating the use of hydro and photovoltaic power as well as energy storage, marking a great breakthrough in the coordinated use of multiple types of energy for high-altitude regions.
The base covers a total area of 3,227 mu (roughly 2.15 square kilometers), with an installed capacity of 160 megawatts and is situated at an average altitude of 3,700 meters on the western Sichuan plateau. It leaves enough space for the pasturing and soil remediation through its reasonable arrangement of panels elevated two meters above the ground. The grasslands on the plateau can thus be conserved while the modern animal husbandry maintains growth. The multifaceted system, where components like hydropower generation and surplus electricity storage complement each other, plays an exemplary role for the subsequent projects related to real-time, coordinated control of hydro and photovoltaic power.
Once in full operation, the project is expected to generate 280 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, sufficient to meet the yearly needs of 140,000 households. In addition, it can save 870,000 tons of standard coal, which would otherwise emit about 262,500 tons of carbon dioxide. Serving as a replicable example, the project will contribute to building a new-type power system in West China and advance the pursuit of the carbon peaking and neutrality goals.
(Executive editor: Yuan Ting)
