CTG kick-starts 25 new energy projects with total investment of RMB 58 billion

China Three Gorges Corp. (CTG) has announced a total of 25 new energy projects with a total investment of RMB 58 billion as part of its efforts to step up clean energy push and fight against the epidemic of novel coronavirus pneumonia.

With an installed capacity reaching 3.92 GW, the projects in 14 provinces and region across the country, including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Fujian, Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Hebei, are expected to create 17,000 jobs for people and bring both upstream and downstream local suppliers and producers to resume operation and construction.

Among the new projects, the 800-megawatt offshore wind farm in Rudong, Jiangsu and the 1.4 GW offshore wind farm in Yangjiang, Guangdong are the two mega projects with a combined investment of RMB 42.4 billion.

The two wind farms, scheduled to be fully operational by 2021, will house more than 414 domestically manufactured large-capacity wind turbines, provide job to 4,000 people and produce 7.2 billion kWh of power annually, which can meet the annual electricity demand for about 4.5 million households.

Compared with coal-fired power plants of the same size, the two projects can replace about 2.44 million tons of standard coal each year, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 5.83 million tons, and cut deforestation by about 2.55 million m3, bringing significant economic, social and ecological benefits.

As the first 400kV flexible direct-current transmission project in China, the Rudong project has a DC submarine cable with a transmission distance of 100km, making it the highest voltage and the longest flexible DC transmission line in China.

Development and construction of this project will help China make breakthrough in offshore wind power flexible DC transmission technology, which would serve as a benchmark for building large-capacity offshore wind farms at open sea in the future.

CTG is also committed to developing offshore wind power resources in contiguous areas at scale in Guangdong so as to boost the clean energy in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, responding to the country‘s strategy of developing the Greater Bay Area.

The Yangjiang Project, a key project to promote clean energy development in the Greater Bay Area using the offshore wind industry as a starting point, is also CTG's first "Giggawatt" offshore wind farm in Guangdong. The project will be built in five phases. The first phase, which boasts a capacity of 300 MW, has been connected to the grid for power generation at the end of November 2019. The second to fifth phases, with a combined capacity of 1.4 GW, are now kicking off simultaneously, setting a record in China for offshore wind farms in terms of scale for starting construction of offshore wind power projects at one time.

Experts said the construction of such mega projects will push up the upgrading of equipment manufacturing, the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements and development of regional economy.