Dongfang Boiler wins bid for China’s first molten salt thermal storage integration project; new breakthrough in the flexibility improvement of thermal power plants

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Recently, Dongfang Boiler, in collaboration with China Energy Engineering Group East China Institute and Shaanxi Construction Installation Group, successfully won the EPC general contract for the research and demonstration project on \"Research and Demonstration of Flexibility Improvement Technologies for Thermal Power Units Based on Molten Salt Heat Storage\", undertaken by Shandong Luxi Power Generation Co., Ltd. This win not only marks a significant breakthrough with regard to the company’s first order for a molten salt heat storage system integration, but it also serves as a solid achievement that kicks off the new year on a positive note for the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. It is reported that this project features a storage capacity of 120 megawatts/480 megawatt-hours for molten salt energy storage, plus 60 megawatts of molten salt energy storage provided by electric boilers. The molten salt heat storage system is integrated closely with the plant’s 600-megawatt-class generators; through optimized system design and operation strategies, the operational flexibility of these thermal power units can be significantly improved. This enables the load on a single unit to be reduced to 0%, while the load on two units can be reduced to 15%, thus addressing the issue of insufficient peak-shaving capacity of existing units and the demands for reliable heating supply. As China’s first molten salt thermal storage project with plant electricity connected to the grid, as well as the first combined frequency regulation project that integrates thermal power units, supercapacitors, lithium batteries, and molten salt energy storage, this project possesses a strong demonstrative effect. It opens up new pathways for the flexible transformation of thermal power plants, significantly improving their ability to carry out deep peak-shaving operations and operate more efficiently. It provides a replicable and scalable technical model and practical example for the transformation and upgrading of the industry.