China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) has put the world’s largest solar PV-plus-concentrated-solar hybrid into commercial trial operation in the Gobi Desert — and its headline trick is delivering power after sunset without a single lithium battery. The 1-gigawatt Hami project in Xinjiang stores the sun’s energy as heat in molten salt, letting it keep generating for up to eight hours after dark.
China is pushing aggressively for energy independence and technological leadership in renewable energy, with large-scale projects demonstrating innovative solutions to intermittency.
This project showcases a viable, large-scale alternative to battery-reliant energy storage for renewables, addressing a critical bottleneck for continuous clean energy supply.
The feasibility of deploying concentrated solar power with molten salt storage at gigawatt scale changes the calculus for grid stabilization and baseload power generation from renewables.
- · Concentrated Solar Power developers
- · Molten salt technology providers
- · Countries with high solar insolation
- · China Three Gorges Corporation
- · Lithium-ion battery manufacturers (for grid-scale storage)
- · Fossil fuel power plants
- · Regions lacking suitable land for large CSP projects
The successful operation of this plant de-risks large-scale molten salt energy storage, encouraging further investment and deployment.
Increased adoption of CSP with molten salt could reduce reliance on critical battery minerals, diversifying energy storage supply chains.
This could accelerate the global transition to a 24/7 renewable energy grid, impacting geopolitical energy dynamics and carbon emissions targets.
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