Chinese coastal cities eye diversified green energy development

NANJING, July 22 (Xinhua) -- In the coastal county of Rudong in Nantong City, east China's Jiangsu Province, the fan blades of low-wind-speed turbines atop towers over 70 meters high were slowly rotating, harnessing the power of the wind.

A short drive away, energy storage facilities, including electrochemical and gravity-based energy storage systems, are either humming with activity or taking shape.

This city, nestled along the coast of China's Yellow Sea and the banks of the Yangtze River, is a cornucopia of wind power resources. It has attracted multiple companies to establish their bases here, with the State Power Investment Corporation being among the most prominent.

In addition to the extensive development of wind farms, the construction of switching and power booster stations, along with other ancillary power infrastructure, has become pivotal in optimizing wind energy utilization and nurturing a comprehensive industry chain in the city.

Inside an energy storage station, 80 orderly arranged electrochemical energy storage units, painted in blue and white, stand as sentinels of power. This station, the largest of its kind in Jiangsu, boasts a millisecond response time to grid demands, ensuring seamless operation.

Since its grid connection in November last year, this station has fed over 60 million kWh of electricity into the grid, with a significant share being green energy. The facility has also attracted new energy companies looking to meet their energy storage needs at this shared power station.

Currently, the initial phase of this project boasts a total energy storage capacity of 400,000 kWh. Based on an average household consumption of 10 kWh per day, the station can supply a day's worth of electricity to 40,000 families with a single charge and discharge cycle.

In the vicinity bustling with various power facilities, stands a gravity energy storage tower measuring 148 meters in height and 35 stories high, resembling a colossal sentinel. Inside, 12,672 energy storage blocks, each weighing 25 tonnes, ascend and descend like elevators.

During off-peak hours, the gravity tower hoists these blocks using surplus power. When demand peaks, it lowers them, converting gravitational potential energy back into electrical energy to feed the grid. Upon completion, the project is designed to generate up to 100,000 kWh of electricity within a four-hour period.

"When we prepared the gravity energy storage tower for grid connection in March this year, there were no established industrial standards in China," said Sheng Yuanmao, operational director of the new energy technology development company, under China Tianying Inc., in Jiangsu. "We collaboratively designed the standards with some grid and electrical power research institutes, with constant support from local governments."

In the riverside city of Zhenjiang, clean energy exploration is underway, with natural gas and electricity gradually replacing traditional diesel fuel for maritime propulsion.

Jing Haiguo, an expert working at the Zhenjiang branch of CSSC Power (Group) Cooperation Limited, pointed to dual-fuel engines designed for engineering and container ships. "These engines, by igniting 1 percent diesel to fire 99 percent natural gas, can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by 70 percent compared to diesel engines alone," he said.

The sea breeze, once a mere whisper across the ocean, is now not only a source of land-based electricity but also a power source for maritime voyages. Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd., has commenced the construction of the world's first tugboat powered by a combination of hydrogen fuel cells and liquid-cooled lithium batteries, aiming to cut carbon emissions by over 1,400 tonnes annually.

Under China's dual carbon goals of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, the country's clean energy, energy storage and grid consumption capacities have seen sustained growth in recent years, propelled by ongoing investments from the government and enterprises in the new energy sector.