The Chinese made a miracle in the desert: This is the future of energy

With a completely futuristic look, it looks more like the backdrop of a science fiction movie than the energy plants we know.

Tens of thousands of mirrors — heliostats — attract sunlight and direct the beam of light to the top of the 260-meter tower. The heat heats the molten salt to over 560 °C, which turns into steam that drives the turbines. It is a 100MW concentrated solar thermal power plant (CSP), the first commercial Chinese molten salt CSP in Asia, which can produce electricity even after sunset.

Dunhuang is a tourist destination because of the Mogao Caves — Buddhist caves with frescoes and texts that bear witness to centuries of caravan trade. Tourism is an important source of income, but the region is arid, with limited fresh water.

CSP does not emit COâ‚‚, but requires water for cooling and mirror washing. In Dunhuang, the problem was solved with dry cooling and recycling of waste water, so the environmental goals were completely met. Today, this part of China can boast that it meets 100 percent of its electricity needs from renewable sources, a goal that is still unfathomable to many advanced Western societies.

The power plant was put into operation at the end of 2018, has 12,121 heliostats, an area of ​​7.8 km² and annually produces 390 GWh — which reduces CO emissions by about 350,000 tons. It is a strategic resource of Chinese geopolitics. China, in fact, produces key components for CSP — from heliostats to towers and heat storage systems. Dunhuang is a proving ground: technologies tested there are later exported to third countries, often as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, whereby China dictates market standards and expands its influence.

– We have about 14 CSP power plants in the country that are either planned or under construction or are already in operation. We are proud to say that this is an experimental CSP power plant and that all national standards and technological pathways are born here before they are implemented across the country. We are now in the second phase of this project, which is a 100 megawatt CSP plant. At full load, it can generate 100,000 kilowatts of energy every hour. So, if a household uses 200 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month, then the household can use this one-hour energy generated by this second-phase project for 41 years. And for this second phase project, the heat collection tower is 260 meters high, pointed out to Fen Tang Xiaoyu, an expert guide through this imposing power plant in Dunhuang.

She says the power plant, the first of its kind in Asia, is a new landmark of Dunhuang’s new technology and new energy.

– We have 30,000 tons of molten salt that can store electricity for 11 hours. It is pure green energy. And by storing energy or heat, it means that energy can be produced 24 hours a day, explains Tang Xiaoyu, part of the concept of energy of the future, which residents of Gansu province already widely use.

(Vijesti.ba / Fena)