Qinghai Gonghe Project Achieves Record Power Generation and Completes Annual Tasks Ahead of Schedule, Receives Praise from Owner

2023-12-04

In November, the Qinghai Gonghe 50MW CSP plant, maintained by the Company, achieved a monthly electricity generation of 12.222 million kWh, completing an annual generation of 62.9055 million kWh. Both the monthly and annual electricity generation set historical records since the plant was put into operation, completing the 2023 annual generation task 31 days ahead of schedule. On December 4th, the owner, Gonghe Northwest Hydroelectric and Concentrated Solar electricity generation Co., Ltd, sent a commendation letter, praising the achievements in project maintenance, the project team’s rigorous professional competence, and their proactive work attitude in overcoming challenges.

Since July 1, 2022, the Company has undertaken the operation and maintenance work of the project. Organizing the project operation and maintenance team, leveraging the advantages of the EPCO industrial chain, and harnessing the integrated "commissioning, operation and maintenance" technical service capabilities, the focus has been on aspects such as stable production and performance optimization. Collaborating with the Solar Thermal Research Center of the Engineering Consulting Institute and the Power Plant Maintenance Company, the company has carried out in-depth work on operational optimization, technical optimization, identification of equipment hazards, and the specialized elimination of major equipment defects. This has effectively addressed issues that have long constrained the safe and stable operation of the power plant, contributing to the steady improvement of the plant’s performance.

Upon taking over the initial operation and maintenance, the Company focused on eliminating major on-site hazards, restoring the system’s electricity generation capability, conducting a comprehensive inspection and assessment of all project systems and equipment, monitoring and analyzing performance indicator data. They carried out overhauls and technical improvements on equipment such as turbines, high-temperature molten salt pumps, and startup circulation pumps. Successively, they addressed issues and defects affecting the unit’s operation, such as turbine disc damage, EH oil acidity exceeding standards, turbine extraction steam over-temperature, excessive temperature difference between upper and lower cylinders, and high-temperature molten salt pump vibration. On March 9, 2023, the project unit achieved full-load operation for the first time since it was put into operation, marking the systematic resolution of various issues that had long constrained the safe and stable operation of the power plant. The power plant officially entered a period of stable production.

Subsequently, in order to further enhance the power plant’s performance and generation efficiency, the Company continuously optimized operational and equipment management strategies to address issues constraining the plant’s performance and efficiency. They successfully resolved long-standing problems such as insufficient cooling capacity in the air-cooling island, low cleaning efficiency of the mirror field, and extended replacement time for molten salt valves after leakage. The reliability of equipment such as high-temperature molten salt pumps and high differential pressure valves improved, enabling the power plant to achieve rapid performance improvement. The electricity generation efficiency and stability saw a significant increase. In March 2023, the power plant achieved a daily electricity generation of 578,000 kWh, reaching a new high since it was put into operation. In April, the daily electricity generation reached 672,000 kWh, and the daily electricity generation records continued to break through in July, reaching 850,500 kWh. From January to November 2023, the average electricity generation of the power plant increased by more than 186.86% compared to the same period last year.

Chasing the light and pursuing the sun, the sunflowers bloom. The Company will continue to uphold the spirit of the Tiejun with the values of self-improvement, perseverance, scientific approach, and transcendence. Following the company’s deployment in expanding solar-thermal business, they will deeply cultivate the field of solar-thermal commissioning and operation. With a comprehensive tower-type solar-thermal power station operation and maintenance system, they will consistently enhance their competitiveness in the solar-thermal field, injecting more vibrant "solar energy" into the company’s high-quality development.