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China has connected a 1 GW hybrid solar power project in Qinghai province, combining conventional solar photovoltaic (PV) generation with concentrated solar power (CSP) and thermal energy storage in an effort to improve the flexibility of renewable electricity supply.
The Gonghe project, located in the Talatan solar park in northwestern China, comprises a 900 MW PV installation and a 100 MW molten-salt tower CSP plant. PowerChina completed the project’s grid connection on October 1, 2026.
The project integrates three functions: photovoltaic generation, solar-thermal storage and electric-to-heat conversion. Its significance lies in the way these technologies work together, allowing some daytime solar energy to be stored as heat and used to generate electricity when sunlight weakens or demand rises in the evening.
The CSP facility features a 219-metre receiver tower surrounded by 10,310 heliostats, which concentrate sunlight onto the receiver to heat molten salt. The stored heat can subsequently be used to produce steam and drive a turbine.
The CSP plant has eight hours of thermal storage capacity. In addition, a 20 MW electric heater can convert surplus electricity from the adjacent PV installation into heat for storage, creating another route to use solar generation that might otherwise be curtailed.
The eight-hour storage specification applies to the 100 MW CSP plant, rather than the entire 1 GW project. Nevertheless, the arrangement illustrates how solar generation and storage can be integrated within a single power complex.
The solar installation contains approximately 1.9 million modules. The hybrid facility is expected to generate around 2.2 TWh of electricity annually, according to PowerChina’s reported estimates.
The project is also expected to save approximately 690,000 tonnes of standard coal and avoid around 2.07 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. These are projected figures, rather than independently verified operating results.
 
Inside China’s 1 GW Hybrid Project
900 MW Solar PV
(approx. 1.9 million modules)
100 MW Solar Thermal
Molten Salt-tower and turbine
8 hours
Thermal Storage
CSP Components Only
2.2 TWh
Expected Annual Output
Reported Project Estimate
 
Unlike batteries that allow for storage of excess solar energy during daytime for use later, a CSP plant offers another option by retaining energy as heat and converting it back into electricity when required.
The Gonghe project combines both approaches to collecting solar energy. Its thermal plant receives concentrated sunlight directly, while the electric heater allows surplus PV electricity to contribute to thermal storage. The latter feature could help improve utilisation of the overall solar resource, although actual benefits will depend on operating conditions, conversion losses and grid requirements.
This distinction is important. The facility does not make the entire 1 GW installation continuously dispatchable, nor does its eight-hour storage rating mean that the whole project can deliver 1 GW for eight hours after sunset. Instead, it adds a controllable generation component to a much larger PV installation.
The project is part of China’s broader effort to develop large renewable-energy bases in resource-rich western and northern regions while improving the ability of clean generation to meet demand at different times of day.
China has also set a wider policy direction for concentrated solar power. Guidelines issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration in December 2025 targeted approximately 15 GW of installed CSP capacity by 2030, alongside efforts to bring CSP generation costs closer to those of coal-fired power.
For the solar industry, Gonghe offers a demonstration of how conventional PV, thermal storage and electric heating can be combined rather than developed as separate assets.
The commercial test will be whether the added flexibility justifies the additional capital and operating costs. Actual generation profiles, storage utilisation, curtailment reductions and the cost of electricity delivered during peak-demand hours will be important indicators to watch.
As solar capacity continues to expand, the ability to deliver electricity beyond daylight hours could become as important as the cost of generating it at noon. China’s hybrid project offers one possible route towards that goal.
 
 
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