On July 10, 2023, the commencement ceremony of the Pumped-storage hydroelectricity project in Burqin, Xinjiang, and the full capacity grid connected power generation ceremony of the integrated water, wind and storage project in the Burqin River basin (100000 kW wind power) were held in Burqin County, marking the first and largest Pumped-storage hydroelectricity project under construction in Xinjiang since the 14th Five Year Plan officially entered the construction and implementation phase, The construction of the 10 million Kilopower green energy base in the Irtysh basin of Xinhua Power Generation has kicked off in an all-round way.

Project Overview

The Xinjiang Burqin Pumped-storage hydroelectricity Project is a key implementation project in the National Medium and Long term Development Plan for Pumped Storage (2021-2035). The total investment of the power station is 11.43 billion yuan, with a total installed capacity of 1.4 million kilowatts and a designed annual power generation of 1.75 billion kilowatt hours.

The normal water level of the upper reservoir is 1470 meters, with a total storage capacity of 8.318 million cubic meters and a maximum dam height of 74 meters; The normal water level of the underground reservoir is 878 meters, with a maximum dam height of 62 meters and a total storage capacity of 7.766 million cubic meters. The designed annual power generation is 1.75 billion kilowatt hours, and it is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2029. After the power station is completed and put into operation, it will mainly serve the power grid and new energy consumption in the northern Xinjiang region. It is expected to save 726900 tons of standard coal and reduce approximately 2.1865 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Relying on the Burqin Pumped-storage hydroelectricity project, the integrated base of water, wind, photovoltaic and new energy storage in the Burqin River basin will be equipped with 5.6 million kilowatts of new energy at a scale of 1:4. It is planned to build a 10 million Kilopower green energy base integrating hydropower, Pumped-storage hydroelectricity, wind power, photovoltaic and new energy storage at the end of the "15th Five Year Plan".Editor/Ma Xue