Smart PV: The Sun Always Shines on Qinghai's People and Economy
PR93112
SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --
The world's largest renewable energy base showcases how technology can build a
healthy planet
In Chinese, Qinghai means blue waters. Named after Qinghai Lake, China's
largest inland salt lake, Qinghai Province attracted worldwide attention in
November 2020 when two 10 million-kW renewable energy bases were completed in
the Hainan and Haixi prefectures. We took a trip to the PV power station in
Talatan, Gonghe County, 60 km southeast of the lake.
Video Link:
https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1690634/Thoughts_on_a_Blue_Ocean__Final.mp4
As you travel from the provincial capital Xining to Gonghe County, the steep
mountains on both sides of the road gradually recede and the horizon gradually
widens. The azure sky, fluffy clouds, verdant hills, and herds of wandering
cattle and sheep evoke serenity and peace. The white caps of snow on distant
mountains are the only trace of the previous night's wind and snowfall.
10 years of construction
Prior to 2011, the remote and sparsely populated Gonghe County was relatively
unknown. When construction began on the world's largest renewable energy base,
a monumental undertaking given how difficult it was to bring in cranes and
equipment, the county bustled into its busiest time ever. The decade also saw
the rapid development of auxiliary industries like catering, accommodation,
auto repairs, ironware, and construction materials.
This level of activity had only been approached once before – in the 1980s,
when the Longyangxia Hydropower Station was built.
September 26, 2020 was a memorable day for both Huawei and energy specialists
Huanghe. At 17:18, the last segment of the Qinghai Gonghe 2.2 GW PV power
station was connected to the power grid, marking the rollout of a power source
that would support the world's first UHVDC power transmission project to
transmit 100% clean power. Gonghe PV power station isn't just the world's
largest PV power station – it also boasts the shortest completion time of any
new energy power plant, taking just one year from bidding to connecting to the
grid.
The Qingyu UHVDC power transmission line that the plant supports stretches
1,563 km from Hainan in Qinghai Province to Zhumadian in Henan Province and is
capable of lighting up the Central Plains region with 100% clean power.
Both the power station in Gonghe and the province's wind power plants connect
to the power grid, providing capacities of 15.436 million kW in Hainan and
10.12 million kW in Haixi. Each of the renewable energy bases now has a
capacity of 10 million-kW.
Ten years ago, China's inverter market was dominated by central inverters. In
2013, Huawei and Huanghe deployed string inverters in the Golmud PV power
station in Qinghai, marking the first time string inverters were installed in a
large-scale, ground-mounted PV plant. This broke the dominance of central
inverters and spurred new development in the PV industry. In 2014, the two
companies launched the smart PV solution based on string inverters to
digitalize PV power stations. One year later, Huawei established the Smart PV
Joint Innovation Center with Huanghe, which soon developed Smart I-V Curve
Diagnosis technology, revolutionizing O&M and slashing LCOE (Levelized Cost of
Energy).
In 2017, string inverters overtook central inverters to become the mainstream
PV inverters. Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis is widely used worldwide today,
replacing complex and inefficient manual O&M and inspections and accelerating
the arrival of affordable PV. A little spark starts a great fire – Smart PV
began by the Yellow River and now the 609- square-kilometer Gonghe PV power
station is one of the world's largest PV power stations, complemented by the
100 MW Demonstration Power Station.
According to Xie Xiaoping, Chairman of Huanghe, the two companies achieved
outstanding results due to aligned resources and complementary strengths. A
timespan of just ten years saw the development of the world's first 100% clean
energy UHV power transmission line as well as the world's largest renewable
energy base, PV power operator, single PV power station, hydro-solar power
plant, and demonstration base.
Powered by Huawei's digital information technologies, 5G networks, and smart
handheld terminals, Huanghe had built the country's largest centralized new
energy control center. With more than 20 million data measurement points, the
center centrally manages 34 PV power stations, providing services like big data
analysis, remote diagnosis, and real-time maintenance.
Plans are in place for a new PV park spanning 609.6 square kilometers – roughly
the land area of Singapore – and a 2,400-square-kilometer wind farm.
By the end of 2020, the renewable resources in Hainan totaled an installed
capacity of 18.65 million kW, including 9 million kW of PV power, 5.5 million
kW of hydropower, 4.1 million kW of wind power, and 50,000 kW of solar-thermal
power.
Folk songs make a return in Talatan
Located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, Talatan was once a landscape
of windswept sand, plagued by drought and overgrazing.
Since 2011, PV power has helped gradually restore the degraded vegetation and
revitalize the grassland ecosystem, with solar energy increasing soil moisture
and reducing evaporation from the soil's surface. Local residents herding sheep
under seemingly endless rows of solar panels on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a
living example of how technologies can coexist harmoniously with nature. The
sky is blue, the wilderness is vast, and the wind sings to cows and sheep
through the grass.
In just 10 years, Talatan was restored to the way it once was – its green past
has time-traveled to the present and the sound of folk songs can be heard again.
On our way to Talatan, Huan Xingsheng, the deputy director of production
technology for Huanghe's PV O&M company, believes that "solar grazing" embodies
the nature of this land – and the term is currently being registered as a
trademark.
Fifty-year old Duo Goujie lives in Tiegai Town, where he and his wife raise
over 550 small-tailed Han sheep, which graze in rich fields nearby.
"Before, there was no fertile grass here. It used to grow in clumps, with sand
all over it, just like the kind you see on the roadside. The sheep didn't like
it," says Duo with a smile.
When first planning for the PV project in Talatan, Huanghe sought ways to
deploy PV power stations in a way that would benefit both the natural ecosystem
and the PV industry. To absorb the impact of desert wind and sand on solar PV
panels, Huanghe sowed pasture seeds around the PV park. The grass inside the
park soon grew far higher than the grass outside it.
"The grass grows better because the shelter of the PV panels reduces
evaporation from the soil surface, and the water used to clean the PV panels
increases soil moisture," says Huan Xingsheng.
However, this creates new challenges: Grass that grows too tall stops sunlight
reaching the PV panels and affects power generation. The grass also catches
fire easily when it withers in winter. In 2015, Huanghe migrated 600 sheep into
the park. They kept the grass at a certain height so it power generation
remained unaffected and life was made far easier for the farmers.
Also in 2015, Huanghe began researching the environmental impact of large-scale
PV power stations. It found that their deployment improved soil moisture and
vegetation growth, cutting average wind speeds by 41.2% and daily air
temperatures by 0.5 degrees Celsius, while improving average daily air humidity
by 2.1% and soil moisture by 32% at 20 cm deep.
As a result, Huanghe adjusted the design of the PV supports from 50 cm to 1.2 m
above ground. The increased construction costs were offset by signing grazing
agreements with local farmers, employing local villagers to help construct and
maintain the PV park, and growing cash crops like snow chrysanthemums and Togou
grass in the park. The model of jointly benefiting the ecosystem and local
people by deploying solar technology has in turn boosted the PV industry, local
transportation, construction, and tourism, leading to the development and
prosperity of minority groups in the upper Yellow River.
In 2018 in response to the success in Talatan, the State Key Laboratory on
Ecological Water Conservation in Northwest Arid Regions set up a branch at
Huanghe dedicated to researching the management of areas that, like Qinghai,
are arid or have turned to desert.
Supported by the world's largest renewable energy base, Qinghai's power grid
has achieved several milestones since 2017 for providing uninterrupted green
power, achieving 7, 9, 15, and then 30 consecutive days.
On August 16, 2021, it achieved a record 100 days.
Looking out from a 30-meter-high inspection tower is a blue ocean of PV panels
that contrasts with Qinghai Lake a short distance away. Today, this land is
alive with joy, with more than 5,000 sheep grazing in the park and the sound of
singing farmers floating over the grasslands.
Source: Huawei
Image Attachments Links:
Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=407860
Caption: Qingyu UHVDC power transmission line, spanning 1,563 km, lights up the Central
Plains with clean energy from the plateau in northwest China
Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=407863
Caption: Sheep running towards the PV park
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