Image: Energy China’s Hami 50MW CSP tower plant
According to DongFang Boiler (Group) Co., Ltd. (referred to as Dongfang Boiler), a company member of China Solar Thermal Alliance (CSTA), the 50MW Molten Salt Solar Tower CSP Plant of China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd (Energy China) in Hami City, Xinjiang Autonomous Region generated 30.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity in the first quarter of 2024. On March 28th, the daily power generation exceeded 1.0315 million kilowatt hours, setting a new record for daily power generation.
Image: Energy China’s Hami 50MW CSP tower plant
This project is contracted by Northwest Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd. (NWEPDI) of Energy China as a EPC (Engineering,Procurement,Construction) contractor and Dongfang Boiler was responsible for the design and supply of key equipment systems such as heliostats, solar receiver, evaporators, etc.
Hami City has strong local winds, since the plant was put into operation, the solar field has withstood the test of high speed wind throughout the year. According to the meteorological data of Hami City on April 12th, 2024 the maximum wind speed level at the project site was 12 levels. The measured highest wind speed at the site reached 36.89 meters/second, and the heliostat has not undergone deformation or delamination and the solar central receiver operated stably without overheating or burning of the protective plate. This fully verifies the excellent wind resistance performance and reliable product quality of the heliostats and solar receiver equipment “made by Dongfang Boiler”, which provides design and selection basis and engineering practice experience for the main equipment of the solar concentrators and heat collection system in domestic high wind speed areas.
Image: Heliostats in Energy China’s Hami 50MW CSP tower plant made by Dongfang Boiler
The plant installed a total of 14,500 heliostats, with a single heliostat area of 48.5 square meters and a total mirror field area of 700,000 square meters. It’s told that after the plant was put into operation, Dongfang Boiler continued to monitor the wind resistance of the heliostats, optimized the operation in high wind speed areas, and obtained complete high wind speed heliostat operation data, providing a theoretical basis and engineering practice basis for heliostat design adapting to higher wind speed.
The project was put into commercial operation in September, 2021. It reached a new high of 15 million kilowatt hours of electricity generation on October 2023.
