N China's Shanxi accelerates transition to cleaner energy

Photo shows a solar farm in Yanhu district, Yucheng, north China's Shanxi province. [Photo by Chang Qi/People's Daily Online]

From the platform at the Tashan power plant in Datong, north China's Shanxi province, a 1,500-meter-long enclosed coal conveyor, elevated above ground directly connects the facility to Tashan Coal Mine.

"This system enables on-site, low-emission coal transfer and enhances operational efficiency," explained Wu Sitong, deputy head of the plant's fuel department. "By integrating coal mining and power generation, we're lowering costs, reducing pollution, and enhancing coal-power coordination."

As one of China's major coal-producing provinces, Shanxi has actively pursued energy transition in recent years. It has charted a path toward a diversified, low-carbon energy system - balancing the need for energy security with the imperative to cut emissions. It has become one of China's top electricity exporters, and for two years running, it has led the country in transmitting green energy to other regions.

Renewables now account for over half of Shanxi's installed power generation capacity. To address the intermittency of wind and solar generation, coal-fired power still play a vital supporting role during renewable output fluctuations. Meeting this dual challenge, Shanxi is implementing flexibility retrofits at coal plants - reducing output during low demand and increasing during peak periods.

Photo shows power transmission lines in Xiaxian county, Yuncheng, north China's Shanxi province. [Photo by Xue Jun/People's Daily Online]

At a thermal plant operated by China Huadian Corporation Ltd. in Shuozhou, Shanxi, an advanced 20-megawatt-hour packed-bed thermal energy storage system captures heat during off-peak hours and releases it during periods of high demand.

"It has significantly improved our plant's responsiveness to grid dispatch orders," said Sun Jiaquan, executive director of the plant.

As of the end of May, Shanxi had completed flexibility retrofits for 35.61 million kilowatts of thermal power capacity while adding 6.11 million kilowatts of peak-shaving capability. These improvements have enabled the provincial grid to absorb an additional 9 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity annually.

To address the intermittency of renewables, Shanxi is pioneering integrated energy systems combining traditional and green power sources. At a wind farm on Hutou Mountain in Shuozhou's Pinglu district, rows of wind turbines spin steadily in the breeze. Their output is combined with thermal power and undergoes storage at a facility within a 500 kV substation, before transmission via an ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHV DC) lines to the manufacturing hub of the Yangtze River Delta.

At the ±800 kV converter station in the Yanmen Pass, Shanxi, 24 massive converter transformers run around the clock to ensure stable transmission. This high-capacity transmission corridor, stretching 1,119 kilometers, has a maximum capacity of 8 million kilowatts and channels clean energy from Shanxi directly to Jiangsu province in eastern China.

Photo shows a wind farm operated by State Power Investment Corporation Limited in Youyu county, Shuozhou, north China's Shanxi province. [Photo by Song Weixing/People's Daily Online]

Shanxi's power transmission network includes one UHV DC line, three ultra-high-voltage AC lines, and 14 outbound 500 kV corridors. Once the 1,000 kV Datong-Huailai-Tianjin South ultra-high-voltage project is completed, alongside a new energy base in the province's subsidence areas, Shanxi is expected to deliver 27 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity each year to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Its total outbound transmission capacity will exceed 36 million kilowatts.

Alongside infrastructure upgrades, Shanxi is also leveraging market mechanisms to improve coordination between traditional and renewable energy sources. At the State Grid Shanxi Electric Power Company's dispatch center, a real-time price board updates electricity spot market rates every 15 minutes.

When solar and wind output is high during the day and market prices drop, thermal power stations reduce output to accommodate renewable sources. As evening demand spikes, they ramp up again to stabilize supply.

Today, more than 21,000 market participants operate in Shanxi's electricity spot market. "The spot market's real-time pricing has become the most dynamic mechanism for balancing supply and demand," said Zhang Chao, head of the spot market division at State Grid Shanxi Electric Power Company.