100MWh battery added to ‘China’s largest’ mixed renewables power plant

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
CATL's battery energy storage at the project in Qinghai Province. Image: CATL.

A 100MWh battery energy storage system has been integrated with 400MW of wind energy, 200MW of PV and 50MW of concentrated PV (CPV) in a huge demonstration project in China.

Luneng Haixi Multi-mixed Energy Demonstration Project has been described as “the world's first and China's largest electromechanical energy storage station with virtual synchronous generator,” by the chief scientist at the China Electric Power Research Institute, Dr Hui Dong.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

It is able to add power to the grid equivalent to that produced by burning 401,500 tonnes of coal annually (126,250MW), coordinating and integrating the three different types of renewable energy that feed into it.

China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) provided batteries and the complete battery energy storage system (BESS) as the exclusive supplier to the project. A prolific supplier to automotive industry sectors, CATL began exploring grid-scale storage recently, the China Energy Storage Alliance (CNESA) said last year in a market update.

This includes a project in JinJiang, Fujian Province, being built in phases of 100MWh, then 500MWh to finish with 1000MWh total capacity. As one of the fastest growing makers of lithium batteries, CATL recently announced its first European manufacturing facility and its first service and sales centres in North America.

Luneng Haixi Multi-mixed Energy Demonstration Project sits in an active seismic zone in Golmud, Qinghai Province, where temperatures vary from -33.6°c to 35.5°c. This meant that the harsh climate and possibility of earthquakes had to be mitigated in the plant’s design and construction. CATL said it deployed an air-cooling system that is controlled by the battery management system.

Conversely, the battery management system will ‘pre-store’ electrons for use when starting the system or parts of it up on cold days. The system was also designed, built and then tested to withstand vibrations and shocks up to magnitude 8.

CATL the battery system has a planned lifespan of 15 years. The company said there had been a strong emphasis on safety, particularly from fires or explosions resulting from equipment failures. As well as accounting for and mitigating risks in design and construction, the battery control and management system provides protection from damage caused by factors such as overcharge or over-discharging or use in far-from-ideal temperatures. CATL claimed the system was tested and commissioned in just 17 days.

“The station is the first of its kind – a multi-functional, centralised power plant integrated with an electrochemical energy storage system. Its technical reliability and affordability will promote further global deployment of different renewable energy applications,” CATL vice chairman and chief strategy officer Huang Shilin said.

10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

Sponsored
May 28, 2025
Ben Willis speaks to Astronergy about its next-generation TOPCon offering and the advantages of its zero-busbar module design, both of which were on show at Intersolar 2025.
May 28, 2025
The SEC has signed a deal to supply the Victoria government with 100% renewable energy from its portfolio in Australia.
May 27, 2025
The Turkish Ministry of Trade has started an antidumping investigation on solar PV aluminium frames and junction boxes coming from China.
May 27, 2025
The director of Chinese solar manufacturing giant LONGi has stepped down to focus on the company research and development (R&D) operations.
May 27, 2025
Following reports of 'rogue' communication devices in Chinese solar inverters, the solar industry needs to wake up to cybersecurity risk.
May 27, 2025
China has installed a record of 104.9GW of solar PV between January and April 2025, according to data from the Chinese National Energy Administration. 

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 8, 2025
Asia