LHASA, Dec 10 - China has achieved another breakthrough in the development of wind power at very high altitudes, as the world's highest wind power project in the Xizang autonomous region has been generating over 22 million kWh of electricity since Tuesday.
The project, with the highest gondola at an altitude of 5,305 meters, invested and built by companies including Datang Xizang Energy Development Co., Ltd., set a new Chinese and world record for wind power projects in terms of altitude.
The project consists of 20 wind turbines, each with a capacity of five megawatts, and will generate 223 million kWh of clean electricity annually, which can meet the annual energy needs of about 230,000 people, said the wind farm manager Xu Qiduo adding that this smart project only needs eight to 10 people to operate the wind turbines.
Areas located between 3,500 and 5,500 metres above sea level are usually considered to be at very high altitude. These areas are rich in wind resources but place greater demands on wind energy technology and equipment performance.
At the wind farm in Xizang's Baxoi district, which began operations on Oct. 31, workers overcame a number of technical challenges, including dragging blades and controlling atypical conditions in an area with very high altitude, Xu said.
The wind turbines were specifically designed to withstand extreme environments and weather conditions, including extremely cold temperatures, strong ultraviolet radiation and frequent storms at ultra-high altitudes, explained a wind farm technical officer Losum Tsering.
Losum Tsering, a local Tibetan, expressed his gratitude for the improvement in the electricity grid in recent years, as villagers like him now no longer face prolonged power outages lasting several days in a row.
According to the wind farm, the green energy project can save approximately 73,100 tons of standard coal annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 182,800 tons.
In recent years, Xizang, which is rich in wind power resources, has expanded several wind power projects to areas with very high altitude. In the past two years, the second phase of a wind farm in Shannan City and a 300,000 kW wind and photovoltaic power project in Xigaze City have been commissioned and connected to the national grid, with the highest gondola heights exceeding 5,100 meters.
Xizang has made ecology a priority and considers it one of the region's top four challenges. A white paper released last year said clean energy accounts for nearly 90 % of the region's installed electricity capacity.
China has continued to make breakthroughs in clean energy and green industry technology innovation in recent years. According to a white paper released last year entitled China's Green Development in the New Era, the installed capacity of hydro, wind and photovoltaic power plants has always exceeded 300 million kW, the highest in the world.
In 2019, China issued a national standard for high-altitude wind turbines, which sets out various technical requirements applicable to these wind turbines in plateau areas from 2,000 to 5,000 meters above sea level.
Shi Lei, a professor at Renmin University of China's School of Ecology and Environment, said wind power has brought vitality to clean energy development in Xizang and serves as an important supplement during periods of low photovoltaic and hydropower output.
"The stable operation of this wind power project at a very high altitude is expected to be a benchmark for wind power generation in high mountain areas around the world," Shi said.
Xinhua/ gnews - RoZ
ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTO - Xinhua
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