On January 29, Unit 4 of Zhongwei Power Plant under CHN Energy’s Ningxia Tengger operations (Ningxia Power) successfully completed a 168-hour full-load trial run and officially entered commercial operation. The unit is the first to be commissioned under the 4×660 MW expansion project of Zhongwei Power Plant, one of China’s earliest coal-fired peak-regulating power sources supporting large-scale desert-Gobi-wasteland energy bases.
The plant serves as a key peak-regulating power source for the Ningxia Tengger desert–Gobi–wasteland energy base and the Ningxia–Hunan UHV DC transmission project. The energy base plans to deploy 13 million kW of new energy capacity, including 4 million kW of wind power and 9 million kW of PV power, alongside 4.64 million kW of supporting coal-fired peak-regulating capacity. The Zhongwei Power Plant expansion project is designed to build four 660 MW units, which, once fully commissioned, are expected to generate about 11 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
Construction of the project began on April 26, 2024. During implementation, the project team strengthened safety and quality control through grid-based management and smart construction site systems, while adopting optimized design and construction solutions. During the trial operation, all operating parameters of the unit remained stable.
The commissioning of this unit is intended to provide flexible regulating support for the outbound transmission of power from the Tengger large-scale renewable energy base. Construction of the remaining units is currently progressing as planned.
