The facility, located in the Gobi Desert, stores energy using molten salt rather than lithium-ion batteries.
China has commissioned one of the world’s largest hybrid solar power plants, a facility in the Gobi Desert that can continue generating electricity for several hours after sunset. The project combines conventional photovoltaic panels with concentrated solar power (CSP) technology and uses molten salt to store the heat produced during periods of peak solar radiation.
The plant is located in Xinjiang, northwestern China, near the Tian Shan Mountains, in an area of the Gobi Desert with abundant solar radiation. The project is being developed by China Three Gorges Corporation, a state-owned Chinese company specializing in renewable energy generation and known for its involvement in the development of the massive Three Gorges hydroelectric power plant.
The facility has a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW). Of that capacity, 900 MW comes from conventional photovoltaic panels, which generate electricity directly during daylight hours. The remaining 100 MW comes from a concentrated solar thermal generation system designed to store energy as heat and continue producing electricity after direct sunlight is no longer available.
The plant is expected to generate approximately 2.07 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity per year, enough to cover the consumption of hundreds of thousands of households. Combining photovoltaic generation with thermal energy storage also allows the plant to adjust its output to meet grid demand and reduce reliance on solar generation exclusively during daylight hours.
One of the system’s key features is that it does not use lithium-ion batteries to store energy. Instead, it relies on thermal energy storage using molten salt. This technology eliminates the need for materials such as lithium and cobalt and also experiences less degradation in the storage system over time.
During the day, the system operates using two different technologies. On one side, photovoltaic panels directly convert sunlight into electricity that can be sent to the grid. On the other, an area of approximately 8.6 million square feet is covered by about 260,000 mirrors that track the sun’s path and concentrate solar radiation onto specialized receivers.
The concentrated solar energy heats a molten-salt system, typically made from a mixture of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate. These salts can reach temperatures of several hundred degrees and allow the captured energy to be stored for hours while sunlight is available. Instead of storing electricity in batteries, the system retains the heat and uses it later to generate electricity.
Once night falls, the hot molten salt stored in large insulated tanks passes through a heat exchanger. There, it transfers its thermal energy to water, turning it into high-pressure steam. The steam drives a turbine connected to an electric generator, using a process similar to that found in conventional thermal power plants. As a result, the facility can continue generating electricity even after the photovoltaic panels stop receiving sunlight.
After releasing some of its thermal energy, the molten salt cools and is transferred to another tank. The system keeps the salt in liquid form so it can be heated again the following day and the process can be repeated. Its storage capacity allows electricity generation to continue through the night, although nighttime output is lower than the level the facility can reach during periods of peak solar radiation.
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