First wind turbine erected in Xizang project

The first wind turbine has been erected for a 300-megawatt wind-solar-storage integration project in Saga county, Xizang autonomous region, China National Nuclear Power announced on its website recently.

In the northern foothills of the Himalayas, it is the world's highest-altitude and largest-capacity wind power project under construction, and a remarkable feat of engineering and innovation, it said.

When completed, the project will have 40 wind turbines, each with a single unit capacity of 5 MW.

Each wind turbine weighs 483.9 metric tons, with a rotor diameter of 183 meters, a blade length of 90.1 meters and a hub height of 105 meters.

Under normal operating conditions, each turbine is projected to generate 5,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity an hour, enough to meet the annual electricity needs of four households.

Upon completion, the project's annual power generation is expected to reach nearly 600 million kWh, translating to significant environmental benefits that include avoiding the burning of 164,200 tons of coal a year, reducing sulfur dioxide emissions by 453,400 tons, and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 450,100 tons.

Xizang has made significant progress in the development of clean energy, with more than 93 percent of its power supply now coming from green sources, according to State Grid Tibet Electric Power.

By end of March, the region generated 48.2 percent of its electricity from hydropower, 41.9 percent from solar and 2.77 percent from wind.

Hua Ming, deputy director of State Grid Tibet Electric Power's development and planning department, said the region has been advancing the construction of clean power generating capacity in central Xizang.

"In an effort to actively support the construction of the nation's clean energy infrastructure, significant strides are being made to expedite the research and establishment of a demonstration area for a novel electricity system in the central part of the region," Hua said.

"This collective effort is geared toward contributing smart grid technology to the high-quality development of new energy, as well as the advancement of industries such as heating, oxygen supply and hydrogen production."