Dunhuang, a new frontier for green energy
On Feb 26, 2024, under the sunset, the Shouhang Dunhuang 100 MW molten salt tower CSP plant, which keeps absorbing light and heating up in the vast snowfield.[Photo provided to gogansu.com]
At the end of February, Dunhuang city in Gansu province experienced sustained snowfalls, and the desert and the Gobi were cold and bleak.
Amidst the vast snowy landscape, a 260-meter-high solar tower gleams brightly on the desert dunes, located 20 kilometers west of the Dunhuang urban area.
Viewed from above, this tower, surrounded by 12,000 giant heliostats arranged in concentric circles, reflects sunlight onto the tower.
This represents the current largest-scale, tallest solar tower, and continuously power-generating facility in China—the Shouhang Dunhuang 100 MW CSP molten salt power plant.
It is reported that the park's new energy generation from January to November 2023 reached 1.92 billion kWh.