As of the end of 2018, a total of three major solar thermal power generation demonstration projects with a total capacity of 200 MW were completed and connected to the grid, creating the largest annual completion and operation history of solar thermal development in my country.

The industry predicts that six more first batch of solar thermal power generation demonstration projects will be completed and put into operation in 2019. At the end of 2018 and 2019, my country's first batch of photothermal power generation demonstration projects entered the harvest period.

In the new historical moment, the trend of topics in the photothermal industry has changed. At the China Solar Thermal Power Generation Market Situation and Response Strategies Summit and the launch of China’s first one-million-megawatt solar thermal power plant commissioning results, the acceptance and operation of solar thermal projects after completion became a focus topic.

About 40% of CSP demonstration projects will be put into operation by the end of 2018

In September 2016, the first batch of solar thermal power generation demonstration projects identified by relevant national departments finally achieved their first harvest in the third quarter of 2018. On October 10, 2018, my country’s first large-scale commercial solar thermal demonstration power station, the CGN Delingha 50 MW solar thermal demonstration project, was completed and connected to the grid. On December 28, 2018, my country’s first one-million-megawatt CSP demonstration power station—Shouhang Energy Saving Dunhuang 100 MW molten salt tower CSP project was completed and connected to the grid. On December 30, 2018, Qinghai SUPCON Solar Delingha 50MW tower molten salt energy storage solar thermal power station was successfully connected to the grid for the first time.

At this point, before the New Year's bell rings in 2019, the first batch of 200 MW photothermal power generation demonstration projects have been completed. Undoubtedly, 2018 has become an important year in the history of my country’s photothermal development.

There are 20 solar thermal power generation demonstration projects in the first batch, with a total installed capacity of 1,349 MW. Hu Xipeng, editor-in-chief of CSPPLAZA CSP platform, said: “As of the end of 2018, 200 MW of projects had been completed and put into operation, 350 MW of installed capacity were still under construction, 50 MW of construction had been terminated, and 749 MW had not yet been fully launched. Experts attending the meeting believed that although the overall progress of the first batch of photothermal demonstration projects did not meet the expectations of the government and industry, the demonstration effect has been demonstrated.

It is reported that in addition to the above three projects put into operation, Yumen Xinneng 50 MW molten salt tower solar thermal power generation project, China Power Engineering Hami 50 MW molten salt tower solar thermal power generation project, China Power Construction Qinghai Gonghe Fusion A total of 350 MW demonstration projects including the Yan 50 MW Tower CSP Project, the Wulatezhong Banner 100 MW Thermal Oil Tank CSP Project, and the Lanzhou Dacheng Dunhuang 50 MW Molten Salt Fresnel CSP Project are currently underway. Construction will be stepped up and it is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2019.

"The actual situation of demonstration project construction now may be lower than the expectations for thermal power projects at that time, but we have to consider it from the country's original intention to promote 20 demonstration projects. At that time, solar thermal power generation projects had never been large-scale, one-time, and The experience of rolling out multiple routes at the same time, so the word "demonstration" was given, which was of an experimental nature. Many of the technical concepts used in the demonstration project were rare in the world at that time, and many of them were the first of their kind.

It can be seen from the list of demonstration projects that solar thermal power generation is considered at the national level from the perspective of innovative development and fault-tolerant development. From now on, it is a very remarkable achievement that the demonstration project will be completed with 200 MW by the end of 2018. " said Wang Jixue, deputy director of the New Energy Department of the General Institute of Hydropower and Water Conservancy Planning and Design.

Gao Feng, general manager of Beijing Shouhang Energy Saving Technology Co., Ltd., said that the Shouhang Energy Saving Dunhuang 100 MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Demonstration Project (Dunhuang Phase 2) has various parameter requirements compared to the Dunhuang Phase 1 10 MW project. In the higher case, the actual construction time was shortened by nearly 4 months compared with the first phase, which also means that the organizational and management efficiency has been effectively improved, thus reducing the construction cost.

“From the individual testing and debugging of the project to the various parameters obtained now, the performance of equipment or systems such as heliostats, heat absorbers, control systems, and air cooling systems in the second phase of Dunhuang has made great progress compared with the first phase. And the price of some of the equipment has dropped significantly, and behind this is the increase in competitiveness brought about by the superposition of design optimization capabilities, intelligent manufacturing, and scale effects," Gao Feng said.

Sun Rui, deputy director of the General Institute of Electric Power Planning and Design, pointed out that the construction of the first batch of demonstration projects has driven the rapid development of my country's solar thermal power generation industry, promoted the improvement of the entire industry chain, and improved the overall technical level. The preparation of plans for solar thermal power generation bases in relevant areas has been accelerated, laying a solid foundation for subsequent project construction.

"2019 should be a connecting year for the CSP industry. With the implementation of my country's renewable energy power quota system, the demand for renewable energy power in the central and eastern regions will increase greatly. In the projects that have been put into operation and construction In the west-to-east power transmission area, the construction of more solar thermal power generation projects to replace coal-fired units as the regulated power supply in the transmission channel can significantly increase the proportion of renewable energy power transmission and play an important role in realizing my country's energy transformation strategy. ." He further stated.

Acceptance, operation and maintenance of photothermal power generation projects become the focus

Looking forward to 2019, the completed CSP projects will usher in the test of actual operating results, and may affect the future market development trend; multiple CSP projects under construction will also continue to advance construction, and a new batch of CSP projects will be ushered in in 2019. Commencement of commercial photothermal projects. In the joyful atmosphere of solar thermal power generation demonstration projects being connected to the grid, industry topics have begun to turn to discussions on the acceptance and operation of demonstration projects.

"No matter how many we build or what the proportion is, we must comply with relevant national requirements and evaluate and publish the demonstration effects of grid-connected power generation projects as early as possible. This is the basis for the next step of industry development." General Institute of Hydropower and Water Conservancy Planning and Design Wang Jixue, deputy director of the Ministry of New Energy, said.

“After Shouhang Energy Saving Dunhuang 100 MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Project is connected to the grid for power generation, there are still four main tasks: First, ensure the safe, stable and continuous operation of the power station; second, prepare for subsequent completion acceptance work; third, carry out Post-operation evaluation work; the fourth is to conduct experiments on hybrid dispatch of wind power and photovoltaics with power grid companies," said Hui Chao, deputy general manager of Beijing Shouhang Aiqiwei Energy Saving Technology Co., Ltd.

"There are two main purposes for establishing a solar thermal power generation demonstration project. One is to promote the development of the domestic industrial chain, and the other is to cultivate system integrators. The acceptance of demonstration projects must be considered from these two original intentions." PowerChina Northwest Survey and Design Institute Zhou Zhi, chief engineer of the New Energy Engineering Institute, pointed out.

"The acceptance of the first batch of solar thermal power generation demonstration projects cannot be equated to the acceptance procedures of conventional power stations. The acceptance standards should be formulated from the perspective of promoting industry development. The integrity of the construction of the solar thermal demonstration projects must be considered, and whether each system is in accordance with The content of the demonstration project application has been completed; it is necessary to evaluate the input of the entire system, that is, whether the project can be successfully put into operation. It is not necessary to cover all indicators, but to focus on some key indicators and matters that affect the operation.”

Tian Zenghua, general manager of the New Energy Engineering Division of China Electric Power Engineering North China Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd., said, "my country lacks experience in operating commercial solar thermal power plants, so the acceptance of solar thermal power plants must focus on the overall debugging of the power plant. Commissioning is a prerequisite for operation. Possible problems in operation can be discovered during the debugging stage, and personnel involved in the later operation should be involved in the debugging stage in advance to understand the specific operations of the project during the debugging process. "

Jin Jianxiang, chairman of Zhejiang Zhongkong Solar Technology Co., Ltd., said: "The most important point in operation and maintenance is system optimization. When a power station first starts operating, the premise is to ensure the safety of the equipment. Relatively speaking, waste is relatively serious, so in the later stage The space for optimization is relatively large.

There are more than 20 links in the operation of molten salt tower solar thermal power stations. These 20 links will affect the efficiency and power generation of power generation. Each link has room for optimization. According to our preliminary calculations, if the optimization is done well, it is possible to increase power generation by 5% to 10% under the current circumstances. "