PowerChina switches on 1 GW PV-CSP hybrid plant in northwestern China

PowerChina has completed grid connection and started electricity generation at a 1 GW hybrid solar PV and concentrated solar power (CSP) project in Gonghe county, Qinghai province, northwestern China.

The project reached full-capacity grid connection on Oct. 1, according to the Chinese engineering, construction, and infrastructure company. It combines a 900 MW solar PV plant with a 100 MW molten-salt tower CSP facility, integrating solar power generation, thermal energy storage and electric-to-thermal conversion. Chinese state media described it as the country’s first gigawatt-scale project to combine the three technologies.

The PV installation comprises approximately 1.9 million solar modules, with 900 MW of AC capacity and around 1.25 GW of installed DC capacity. The project is part of China’s second batch of large-scale wind and solar energy bases, primarily located in resource-rich northern and western regions.

The CSP facility features a 219-meter-high solar receiver tower surrounded by 10,310 pentagonal heliostats with a combined reflective area of approximately 500,000 m2. The mirrors track the sun and concentrate solar radiation onto a receiver at the top of the tower, heating molten salt that can be stored and later used to produce steam to drive a 100 MW turbine.

The CSP plant has eight hours of thermal storage capacity. It also features a 20 MW electric molten-salt heater that converts surplus electricity from the adjacent PV plant into heat for storage, potentially reducing solar power curtailment.

The system can store energy from both concentrated solar radiation and surplus PV generation, allowing the CSP plant to generate electricity during evening peak-demand periods or when solar irradiation is insufficient. The eight-hour storage capacity applies only to the 100 MW CSP plant, not the entire 1 GW hybrid facility.

PowerChina’s unit PowerChina New Energy developed and invested in the project and operates the facility, while PowerChina’s Northwest Engineering Corp. served as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

Construction took place on the high-altitude Talatan plateau, where low winter temperatures and harsh weather complicated engineering and installation work. The PV plant uses mounting structures of different heights designed to preserve existing grassland and allow livestock grazing beneath the modules.

PowerChina estimates that the facility will generate approximately 2.2 TWh of electricity annually, avoiding the consumption of around 690,000 metric tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 2.07 million metric tons per year.

The newly commissioned CSP tower is also part of a broader three-tower solar thermal cluster in Gonghe county, alongside separate 50 MW and 100 MW CSP projects. The two additional facilities are not included in the 1 GW hybrid project’s installed capacity.

The commissioning comes as China moves to accelerate CSP deployment. In December 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) issued guidelines targeting approximately 15 GW of installed CSP capacity by 2030, while seeking to bring CSP generation costs broadly in line with those of coal-fired power.

The post appeared first on pv magazine Global.