Xinjiang's 500,000-kW photovoltaic power project connected to grid

The 500,000-kilowatt photovoltaic power station in the Tarim Oilfield of China National Petroleum Corporation was connected to the grid on Friday in Yecheng County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 　

It marks China National Petroleum's photovoltaic power　project with the largest single installed capacity being completed and connected to the grid. The project has a power generation of about 917 million kilowatt-hours　(kWh) per year, and can provide electricity for 350,000 households for a year. 　

The project, which started on April 30 this year, covers an area of 15,000 mu (1,000 hectares). It contains a photovoltaic power station, a 220-kilovolt energy gathering station, and a 500-megawatt-hour energy storage station. 　

The project can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 726,000 tons per year, and　the green energy is equivalent to 300,000　tonnes of standard coal. 　 The Tarim Oilfield is located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert, the largest desert in China, within the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang.