en.Wedoany.com Reported - On June 27, the nation's largest "Linear Fresnel" solar thermal comprehensive energy demonstration project—the Three Gorges Group's Hami 1 GW "Solar Thermal + Photovoltaic" project—successfully transitioned from the engineering commissioning phase to commercial trial operation. This milestone validated the economic feasibility of solar thermal technology in a hundred-megawatt-scale project, further reducing the levelized cost of electricity for solar thermal power generation.
Located in the Gobi region of Hami, Xinjiang, the project is equipped with a million-kilowatt "Solar Thermal + Photovoltaic" integrated comprehensive energy base. The solar thermal component has an installed capacity of 100 MW, featuring 260,000 high-precision tracking mirrors covering a heat collection area of 800,000 square meters. It is paired with a large-capacity high-temperature molten salt heat storage system, enabling stable heat storage and power generation.
The "Linear Fresnel" solar thermal power generation technology uses an array of concentrating mirrors as primary reflectors to focus sunlight onto a secondary compound parabolic concentrator (CPC). A tubular heat absorber installed at the CPC focal line absorbs the concentrated solar radiation. The molten salt, heated to 550°C after collection, is sent to a steam generator system to produce high-temperature, high-pressure steam, which drives a steam turbine generator to produce electricity. This achieves a full-chain zero-carbon conversion from "solar energy to thermal energy to electrical energy."
"New energy storage technologies, acting as 'energy buffers,' are key supports for building a new power system. Solar thermal energy storage, with its unique advantages of 'large capacity, long duration, and zero emissions,' differs from lithium battery storage's 'short-term peak shaving' and photovoltaic's 'daytime-only generation.' It can achieve stable energy storage and power generation for 8 hours, becoming an important technical pathway to ensure the round-the-clock reliable operation of the power system. The 'Linear Fresnel' technology is precisely a key innovation direction in the current solar thermal storage field that balances 'economy and practicality.' The grid connection of this project marks a critical breakthrough for this technology moving from the laboratory to large-scale application," said Niu Jianle, project manager of the Three Gorges Energy Hami 1 GW "Solar Thermal + Photovoltaic" project under the Three Gorges Group.
It is reported that since its first grid-connected power generation on September 18, 2025, the project has continuously and stably operated under load, with a cumulative power generation of 6.54 million kWh, consistently supplying reliable green electricity to the regional grid. After full commercial operation, the project is expected to stably deliver over 145 million kWh of clean electricity annually, equivalent to saving approximately 43,800 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 120,000 tons per year. With significant benefits in energy conservation, emission reduction, and ecological carbon reduction, it will continuously support the realization of the "dual carbon" goals in the Xinjiang region.
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