State Grid's Zhen'an 1,400-Megawatt Pump-Storage Power Station Receives Preliminary Approval from NDRC

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, Chana)--State Grid Xinyuan Holding Company Limited's (Beijing) 1,400-megawatt (MW) Zhen'an Pump-Storage Power Station recently received consent from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to begin pre-stage preparation, according to an announcement from the local government of Shangluo City on May 4, 2012.

Zhen'an Pump-Storage Power Station, which is in Shangluo City in the Shaanxi province, is a key project in the 12th Five-Year National Renewable Energy Development Plan. It's the largest hydropower project to be planned in Shaanxi and the first pump-storage power station project in the northwest region to receive preliminary approval from the NDRC.

The pump-storage power station is the most reliable power source for peak regulation and backup so far in the grid. Thermal power occupies nearly 90% of the total power supply in the Shaanxi grid, where the maximum load has surpassed 14.5 gigawatts, with 40% to 50% of the peak load needing to be regulated by thermal power units. Following the construction of a large number of new energy projects such as photovoltaic and wind power in Shaanxi, better peak regulation capability is required. The Zhen'an Pump-Storage Power Station has an excellent location, which is close to the load center and features good grid connection.

According to the preliminary feasibility study report, which passed an examination by the expert panel in July 2011, the project will be furnished with four single-level vertical reversible Francis hydraulic turbines, each of 350 MW, with a total investment of about $1.11 billion. Construction of the project mainly comprises an upper reservoir with a live storage capacity of about 8.91 million cubic meters, under normal pool level (NPL) of 1,386 meters above sea level; a lower reservoir with NPL at 944 meters above sea level; a water diversion system; and a powerhouse with a switch yard.

As a subsidiary of State Grid Corporation of China (Beijing), the project owner, State Grid Xinyuan Holding, is working with HydroChina Xibei Engineering Corporation (Xi'an, Shaanxi), the designer of the project, for the detailed feasibility study of the project.

Upon completion, the project will have an annual designed power output of 2.341 billion kilowatt-hours, and an annual designed power consumption of 3.121 billion kilowatt-hours. It's expected that the annual utilization hour of thermal power plants in Shaanxi will be improve by more than 390 hours following the commissioning of the project in 2018.

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