ABB is supporting the Chinese government in its efforts to produce emissions-free electricity with concentrating solar thermal power.

Building on the successful delivery of power at the first 50 megawatt concentrated solar power in Delingha with China General Nuclear Power Group in late 2018, ABB has been awarded a second contract to deliver an integrated automation solution for a 100 MW Urat solar energy project in Inner Mongolia province, China.

“We are delighted to have been awarded a second project to deliver our digital solutions as part of the 20 pilot concentrated solar power solar program, aimed at boosting China’s efforts to meet the 2030 target of producing 20 per cent of its overall electricity from renewable sources,” said Kevin Kosisko, Managing Director, Energy Industries, ABB.

“As a digital leader in the energy transition, ABB offers innovative digital solutions that are future-focused. This is complemented by our customer focus and heritage in intelligent project delivery, ensuring confidence in ABB as an automation provider.”

The concentrated solar power plant is the first of its kind in Inner Mongolia, and one of the largest capacity solar parabolic projects in China’s 20 pilot plant initiative at 500 hectares. It is set to save about 90,000 tons of coal per year.

ABB will deploy a distributed control system (DCS), incorporating a power island, heat storage and transfer, as well as auxiliary controls, and co-ordination control of solar fields.

The DCS will unify all the plant’s production processes into a single user-friendly system, including the heat transfer system, which transports the heat to molten salt tanks where it is stored, and the power block where the electricity is generated and fed into the transmission grid.