North China's power grid beefed up

With the operation of a large-scale pumped storage power station, the power grid in North China will become more stable and efficient. The station — akin to a power bank — can store significant amounts of electrical energy and supply power during peak consumption periods, experts said.

The Fengning Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Station, the largest of its kind in the world in terms of installed capacity, became fully operational on Tuesday in Chengde, Hebei province, after the last of its 12 units began operations.

Additionally, the station has set three world records among its kind in terms of energy storage capacity, the scale of underground powerhouses and the scale of underground cavern groups.

"This power station acts as a stabilizer for North China's entire power grid system," Wang Zhiyuan, an electrical engineer at the station, told China Daily on Wednesday.

The growing integration of new energy sources, such as wind and solar power, into the grid has introduced challenges due to the intermittent nature of wind and sunlight.

Wang noted that the station can store electricity during low-demand periods and release it during peak-demand periods, playing a critical role in grid regulation and stability.

The system operates by pumping water from a lower reservoir to a higher reservoir during times of low energy demand. This process converts electricity generated by renewable sources into potential energy for storage. When high-demand periods occur, the stored water is released to generate stable electricity, Wang explained.

With a total installed capacity of 3.6 million kilowatts and an annual designed electricity generation capacity exceeding 6.6 billion kilowatt-hours, the hydropower station can meet the annual electricity consumption needs of approximately 2.6 million households, according to Ni Jinbing, chairman of the State Grid Xinyuan Hebei Fengning Pumped Storage Co.

Under full operation, the station can save 480,800 metric tons of standard coal annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million tons, contributing significantly to energy structure optimization and carbon emission reduction, Ni said.

Located in Fengning Man autonomous county, Chengde, the station serves as a vital conduit for green electricity from North China and Northeast China to Beijing.

Beyond this project, a group of pumped storage energy initiatives are progressing rapidly in Hebei.

The province's total planned construction scale for pumped storage energy has reached 29.97 million kilowatts, with approved and grid-connected installed capacity ranking among the highest nationwide, according to Men Xiaoming, director of the New Energy Department of the Hebei Development and Reform Commission, as quoted by Hebei Daily on Tuesday.

"The construction of pumped storage power stations further expands the development space for renewable energy, which is of great significance for accelerating the establishment of a new type of power system and energy system in Hebei," Men said.