On 29 December, China Energy's first tower concentrating solar power (CSP) project—the 100 MW Qingyu HVDC Phase-II plant of Qinghai Gonghe Co.—was successfully synchronized to the grid.
The plant is the group's maiden tower CSP venture. Despite the thin air of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, complex processes and a tight schedule, the team met the corporation's “two-no-exceed, three-zero” construction mandate (no budget overrun, no schedule slip, zero major accidents, zero quality defects, zero environmental incidents). Optimized sequencing enabled the civil foundations to reach grade level in one pour and the turbine hall to be enclosed 30 days ahead of plan; 30 000 heliostats were installed and the 188 m solar receiver tower was cast on schedule, while the receiver panels were hoisted with millimetre precision in a record 8.5 days, setting a new benchmark for comparable projects.
The facility adopts a “CSP + PV” hybrid configuration with 12-hour molten-salt thermal storage, allowing otherwise-curtailed solar electricity to be banked and dispatched later. IoT sensors, big-data analytics and AI algorithms feed an intelligent site platform and a digital-construction showcase, giving full-cycle digital control. More than 98 % of key CSP components and valves are domestically produced. Average plant availability exceeds 76.68 %, solar-to-electric conversion is ≥ 13.39 %, and turbine cycle efficiency tops 41.77 %—all indicators placing the project at the leading edge of domestic performance.
Throughout construction the “eco-first, green-build” principle was enforced. Environmental protection measures were designed, implemented and commissioned in parallel with the main works; “build-while-restore” practices limited disturbance. Centralized work zones, water-spray dust suppression and revegetation cut ecological impact; low-carbon insulation materials and a rigorous HSE system identified and resolved over 1 000 hazards, achieving 100 % ecological-restoration index. Concurrently, 20 km² of ecological forest and a solar-pasture demonstration zone were created, planting 66 000 trees and reseeding 3 000 mu of grassland to form a “panels-generate-power, sheep-graze-between, grass-grows-below” agro-photovoltaic model.