Good news from the site of the SUPCON SOLAR Delingha 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Plant (“Plant”) said that as of December 31, total annual accumulative actual production of the Plant in 2023 has reached 152.4 GWh, i.e. 104.38% of the designed value (146GWh), exceeding the target in a second year.

The Plant has been operating in good condition. Not only is the annual designed production completed 10 days ahead of schedule, but also an increase of 4.13% compared with that of 2022. As shown in the monthly power generation in Figure 1, the Plant recorded an impressive monthly power generation of 18.18GWh in November. In addition, there were 129 days seen a daily performance above 100%.

Figure 1: Monthly Power Generation Data of the Plant for 2022 & 2023

After connecting to the grid on December 30, 2018, the Plant reached full-load operation on April 17, 2019, and quickly completed a short trial operation in the first half of 2019 and started normal operation from July 2019. In the first full year after that, the accumulative actual power generation reached 122GWh, setting the highest operational record among the tower CSP plants in the world.

The total annual accumulative actual power generation of the Plant in 2020 was 106.5GWh, i.e. 72.93% of the designed value (146GWh). The main setback for the power generation is the STG failure. From July 15, 2020, to October 9, 2020, the STG was shut down for maintenance, which affected the power generation of about 32.79GWh. If not for the STG failure, the annual power generation could have reached 95.4% of the designed value.

The total annual accumulative actual power generation of the Plant in 2021 was 105.0 GWh, i.e. 71.9% of the designed value (146GWh). The main setback remains the STG failure. From January 25, 2021, to April 13, 2021, and from July 2, 2021, to August 3, 2021, the STG was shut down for maintenance, which affected the power generation of about 42.64GWh. If not for the STG failure, the annual power generation could have reached 101.1% of the designed value.

The total annual accumulative actual power generation of the Plant in 2022 was 146.4 GWh, i.e. 100.26% of the designed value (146GWh). In addition, there was a mandatory plant shutdown for 10 days from September 28, 2022, to October 7, 2022, where the grid was under line maintenance and wasted about 4.267 GWh, the annual power generation could have reached 103.18% of the designed value.

The total annual accumulative actual power generation of the Plant in 2023 was 152.4 GWh, i.e. 104.38% of the designed value (146GWh). In addition, there was a mandatory plant shutdown for 7 days from May 29 to June 4 due to the special inspection on molten salt pipeline and steam pipeline requested by the relevant authorities, affecting the power generation of 2.11GWh. If not for the 7-day inspection, the annual power generation could have reached 105.83% of the designed value.

After the Plant was put into operation in July 2019, it has been running steadily for four years and six months. Through continuous optimization of operation strategy, its performance steadily improved and repeatedly broke records in terms of non-stop operation hours, daily, monthly, and annual performance. Till the end of December 2023, the overall accumulative actual power generation hit 573.9GWh. The excellent operation performance of the Plant has fully verified the advancement and reliability of China's core technology and equipment of Tower CSP and has laid a solid foundation for the wind/PV/CSP hybrid projects currently under construction.

In the face of huge growth potential and a booming market of CSP, high-quality and high-performance power stations are fundamental to development and establishment of the new market. Cosin Solar will continue to play a leading role in the CSP industry by building more CSP benchmark projects with replicable and promotable construction and operation experience and by providing all clients with better technology and services, aiming to paving a sustainable development path for the CSP industry in the future energy system.

SUPCON SOLAR Delingha 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Plant is one of China's first batch of CSP pilot projects. With a 50MW capacity, 7-hour molten salt storage and 27,135 sets of 20㎡ heliostat, its designed annual production is 146GWh. By saving 46,000 tons of standard coal and reducing 121,000 tons of CO₂ emission, it creates enormous economic and social benefits. The plant is designed and constructed with Cosin Solar's fully patented technologies, and over 95% of the equipment are domestically sourced. It also passed complete technical assessment of Fichtner, a German independent engineering consulting company with a conclusion that “The design of the plant corresponds to state-of-the-art design”.