“Super mirror” on the Gobi desert in Dunhuang

Dunhuang, a city with a long history in northwest China’s Gansu Province, was a vital gateway on the ancient Silk Road, and home to numerous world cultural heritage sites such as the Mogao Grottoes. Not only has it borne witness to the glories of the ancient Silk Road, but the historical city has also given rise to a kind of cyberpunk-style technological miracle in contemporary times. Built and operated by Shouhang Hi-Tech Energy Technology Co., Ltd. on the vast Gobi Desert, it is China’s largest constructed concentrated solar-thermal power plant using molten salt, having an overall generating capacity of 100 MW of power continuously over a 24-hour period.

According to Huang Wenbo, Chairman of Shouhang Hi-Tech Energy Technology Co., Ltd., the power generation capacity of the power plant is designed to reach 390 million kilowatt-hours annually, which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 350,000 metric tons per year. With China having proposed its goals to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 during the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, known as its “Double Carbon Strategy,” the construction of the power plant is also an epitome of the country’s efforts to realize these commitments by taking its own concrete actions.