Two More Super “Power Banks” for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

The regulation capacity of the power grid in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will increase by nearly 10% after the dual Meizhou Pumped Storage Power Station and Yangjiang Pumped Storage Power Station are placed into full operation.

Upper Reservoir of Yangjiang Pumped Storage Power Station

Jiangxi - On December 10, the first units of Meizhou Pumped Storage Power Station and Yangjiang Pumped Storage Power Station of China Southern Power Grid have been placed into full operation for electricity generation.

These units represent the first batch of pumped storage units now in operation in the expansive service area of CSG in the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan.

They are aimed at further ensuring the energy security and resource security of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. To date, CSG’s pumped storage installed capacity has reached 8.58 million kW, of which the pumped storage installed capacity in Guangdong has hit 7.98 million kW, accounting for 23.4% of the country.

This signifies Guangdong as the province currently with the largest pumped storage installed capacity in China.

The total installed capacity of the first phase of the Meizhou Pumped Storage Power Station and Yangjiang Pumped Storage Power Station is 2.4 million kW and the gross investment is 15 billion RMB, mainly serving the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. These two stations are responsible for peak shaving, valley filling and emergency standby power in the grid, and also fulfill the functions of frequency regulation, phase regulation, black start and energy storage. They serve as the “stabilizers”, “regulators” and “power banks” of China Southern Power Grid.

The first units of the two power stations were put into operation half a year ahead of schedule; after that, the pumped storage operated capacity in Guangdong has accounted for 7% of the unified dispatch load.

Once the stations are fully completed and put into use during Year 2022, the annual generation capacity is expected to reach 3.4 billion kWh, equivalent to the power consumption of 7.1 million households for two months in Guangzhou and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s power grid regulation capacity is expected to increase by nearly 10%.

According to Li Yulin, the head of the Infrastructure Department of Peaking Shaving and Frequency Regulation Company, the two power stations can also, “bring marked ecological benefits by saving upwards of 340,000 tons of standard coal, cutting 946,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and reducing nearly 6,500 tons of sulfur dioxide and dust emissions.”

Concurrently, the two new facilities can generate tax revenue of 200 million RMB for the area per annum while significantly driving forward local economic and social development.

The Meizhou Pumped Storage Power Station is a key project in the 13th Five Year Plan for Power Sector Development and the Plan for Revitalizing and Developing the Former Central Revolutionary Bases in Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong Provinces.

The capacity of the upper and lower reservoirs of the power station is 41.02 million cubic meters and 43.82 million cubic meters respectively, ranking second in China. It took only 41 months from the start of the main project to the trial operation of the first unit, setting a record for the shortest construction period for the main project of a pumped storage power station in China.

Engineers at the Yangjiang Pumped Storage Power Station, currently a pumped storage power station with the largest single-unit capacity in China, have overcome the technical challenges in manufacturing and installation due to high head and large capacity and achieved fully-independent manufacturing of pumped storage units with 400,000 kW single-unit capacity and 700-meter-high head.

The tunnel in the water of the power station is the world’s first reinforced concrete lining tunnel with 800-meter head level.

During the construction process, more than 10 key technical problems have been resolved which set a firm foundation for the subsequent large-scale construction of similar power stations in China.

The advanced experience in the construction of these two power stations will give impetus to that of subsequent pumped storage projects.

Senior leaders of China Southern Power Grid have diligently directed its engineering staff to accelerate pumped storage development and plans call for the  completion and placed into use 6 million kW and 15 million kW pumped storage units during the 14th Five-Year Plan and 15th Five-Year Plan periods (respectively) to ensure 200 million kW new energy access to the power grid regulation and satisfy large-scale consumption of clean energy.

These and other meticulous actions will give strong support to the construction of a new power system with new energy as the focus to attain the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.