China General Nuclear introduces novel high temperature Trough with Tower CSP in Qinghai

<p><a href="https://www.solarpaces.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/China-General-Nuclear-combines-Tower-and-Trough-CSP.png"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-31347" height="399" src="https://www.solarpaces.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/China-General-Nuclear-combines-Tower-and-Trough-CSP.png" width="750" /></a><br />
<strong>The 350MW solar project at Wutumeiren in Qinghai Province by CGN will combine 3 Towers with Trough CSP</strong></p>
<p><strong><em>[Ed: Till now, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) using parabolic Trough technology has been limited in efficiency by the temperature limit of the heat transfer oil to around 400°C. Tower CSP with molten salts can achieve 565°C without degradation, for greater efficiency. But raising the temperature of heat transfer fluid for Trough could be a game changer, because Trough projects are not physically size-limited to 100MW like Tower, where reflected sunlight must travel from even the outermost ring of heliostats to the solar receiver on the tower.]</em></strong></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://en.cnste.org/news/detail/1527.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">China Solar Thermal Alliance</a>:</p>
<p>On June 16, 2026, the world&#8217;s largest single-unit thermal storage capacity and heliostat field area concentrated solar power (CSP) plant—the <strong>CGN Golmud 350 MW</strong> CSP Demonstration Project—<strong>officially broke ground</strong> at the <strong>Wutumeiren Solar PV and CSP Park</strong> in Golmud City, Qinghai Province.</p>
<p>The project features a total heliostat field aperture area of 3.7 million square meters, equivalent to the size of 518 standard football pitches, comprising <strong>three tower-type mirror fields</strong> of 1.1 million square meters each and <strong>one parabolic trough mirror field</strong> of 400,000 square meters. The <strong>trough field exclusively utilizes CGN&#8217;s self-developed 8.6-meter large-aperture trough collectors.</strong></p>
<p>The project adopts <strong>trough</strong>-type solar thermal collection technology, which <strong>completed technical validation on April 21 this year at the Delingha Solar Thermal Test Base.</strong></p>
<p><strong>The system achieves a concentration ratio of 107.5x, enabling stable operation from a 290°C inlet to a 550°C outlet, with a thermal storage temperature difference of 260°C—2.6 times that of traditional heat transfer oil systems.</strong></p>
<p>The core components of the entire equipment set have achieved 100% independent control of key technologies.</p>
<p>The project is equipped with a <strong>15-hour large-capacity molten salt</strong> thermal storage system with a storage capacity of 11,747 MWh, making it the CSP project with the largest single-unit thermal storage capacity globally. It enables stable power generation with excellent grid peak-shaving flexibility, effectively improving new energy accommodation efficiency and power supply reliability across the Qinghai grid. Upon completion, it is expected to generate 1 billion kWh of electricity annually, equivalent to saving 320,000 tons of standard coal and reducing CO₂ emissions by 860,000 tons, delivering significant ecological and environmental benefits.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.solarpaces.org/china-general-nuclear-introduces-novel-high-temperature-trough-with-tower-csp-in-qinghai/">China General Nuclear introduces novel high temperature Trough with Tower CSP in Qinghai</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.solarpaces.org">SolarPACES</a>.</p>