(Yicai) July 10 -- Located in the northwestern area of China’s Gansu province, Jiuquan has been striving for excellence in the development of a solid new energy industrial chain in recent years.

In recent years, Jiuquan has seized major opportunities from China’s objective of achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, promoting the integrated development of resources and equipment manufacturing, focusing on the supply chain of six major new energy industries: wind power, photovoltaic, photothermal, energy storage, hydrogen energy, and smart grid.

Fifty-two new energy equipment manufacturing projects with an investment of over CNY100 million (USD14 million) each have been completed in Jiuquan for a total spending of CNY48.6 billion (USD6.8 billion).

Jiuquan’s total installed capacity of new energy has reached 33.5 million kilowatts and is expected to surpass 40 million kW by the end of this year, which will make it the largest new energy city in China by installed capacity.

Wind Power

Jiuquan boasts a complete wind power supply chain, with machine manufacturers like Goldwind Science and Technology, Windey Energy Technology Group, and Mingyang Smart Energy Group, wind turbine blades and tower tubes makers such as Sinoma Science and Technology and Jiuding New Material, as well as other firms along the industrial chain, having taken root in the city.

Jiuquan has an annual wind power equipment production capacity of over 20 million kW. 

Jiuquan First Heavy Wind Power was founded in 2023 as a joint venture between China First Heavy Industries, Goldwind, and Jiangsu Gangrui Precision Machinery. It owns a wind turbine main frame and hub casting workshop.

The workshop has an annual output of 50,000 tons of power supply components for six- and eight-megawatt wind turbines. Its automation rate can reach up to 70 percent.

The company has three production facilities, with a total investment of CNY1.5 billion (USD209.4 million), of which CNY800 million (USD111.7 million) have already been invested. Their payback period is around 10 years.

Goldwind, Dongfang Electric, and China State Shipbuilding Corporation Haizhuang Windpower are Jiuquan First Heavy Wind Power’s three largest customers.

Solar Power

Jiuquan’s PV industry chain has achieved upstream and downstream connections, with an annual capacity of more than 10 million kW.

The largest solar power projects in the city are the upstream and downstream collaborative projects of Baofeng Energy Group. With a total investment of CNY39.2 billion (USD5.5 billion), they have an annual output of 50,000 tons of industrial silicon, 50,000 tons of polysilicon, 2.5 gigawatts of wafer slicing, and 4.8 GW of high-efficiency heterojunction battery cells and components.

Another main player in the local solar industry is Chint Group. Its subsidiary Astronergy researches, develops, and sells high-efficiency crystalline silicon PV cells and modules.

Astronergy’s workshop for N-type high-efficiency crystalline silicon cells has a fully automated production process, in which workers are only an aid to the manufacturing robots.

The solar cells Astronergy produces in Jiuquan are then equipped on 600-watt solar panels that have an efficiency rate of over 23.2 percent, a degradation rate of only 1 percent a year, and a designed life of 25 years.

Dunhuang, Lanzhou

Another city in the northwestern regions of Gansu that has also invested heavily in new energies in recent years is Dunhuang, which was once the last Chinese city on the Silk Road. It is now home to the largest photothermal power plant in Asia.

The Shouhang Dunhuang 100 MW CSP Molten Salt Tower Power Plant, owned and operated by Shouhang High-Tech Energy Technology, boasts 11,890 programmed and controlled mirrors placed along 78 rings around a 260-meter high tower that absorbs solar heat. It covers an area of 1.4 million square meters.

The central collector on top of the tower is used as the carrying base of the heat absorber, and a certain number of mirrors are arranged around the tower, which reflect the sunlight to the heat absorber on the top of the collector tower.

The molten salt in the heating absorber keeps the flowing up to 540 to 560 degrees Celsius, and the high-temperature molten salt generates high-temperature and high-pressure steam through the steam generation system to drive the turbine generator to generate electricity.

Thanks to a thermal storage unit capable of stocking heat for 11 hours, the project can achieve a stable and continuous power supply 24 hours a day.

The main difference between photothermal and photovoltaic power plants is that the latter relies on sunlight, so it cannot generate power at night, while the former harnesses solar energy in a more efficient way, which allows it to store excess energy and release it for later use.

Moreover, compared with traditional energy power stations, solar thermal ones do not have emissions and pollution of carbon dioxide and other gases, helping China achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.

Another main economic hub in Gansu is Lanzhou, the provincial capital city. The Lanzhou New Area, which was established in 2012, is the first state-level new area in western China. It is a hub for business and innovation, with a strategic location and rich resources, offering investors local government support, tax incentives, efficient processes, and a skilled workforce.

One of the newest and most innovative companies in Lanzhou New Area is Chuanqi Ganwei Dairy, a subsidiary of Gansu Qianjin Modern Agriculture Development Group specialized in the production of dairy products, established in 2023.

Chuanqi Ganwei Dairy owns the first comprehensive dairy products processing factory in China, which first phase has a handling capacity of 2,400 tons. It is still in trial operation, which kicked off in January last year.

The company produces a wide variety of products, including pure milk, pasteurized yogurt, fresh cheeses such as mozzarella and mascarpone, and whipped cream, which are then sold to Chinese and foreign dairy giants, including New Zealand’s Anchor and China’s Milkground Food Tech.

The main advantage of Chuanqi Ganwei Dairy is its fully self-operated supply chain, as its raw materials are mostly provided in-house by its parent firm, Qianjin Modern Agriculture, which is Gansu’s largest dairy farming enterprise.

China’s per capita annual consumption of dairy products was only 43 kilograms in 2023, compared with the global average of 110 kg, according to data provided by Chuanqi Ganwei Dairy. This, plus the fact that most processed dairy products sold in China are imported, presents great opportunities for the company to further expand its presence and grow in the domestic dairy market.

Editor: Tom Litting