The PHES plant comprises 10 fixed-speed units and two variable-speed units, all 12 of which have a power rating of 300MW. The variable-speed units are the first in China, and enhance the flexibility of the PHES to adapt to grid load and stability requirements.
It was reported two years ago that the project with all 12 units had been completed but updates since appear to contradict that.
For example, Austria-headquartered technology provider Andritz provided a variable speed unit for the plant and gave the following timeline:
- 15 March 2023: Stator lifted into pit
- 4 July 2023: Rotor lifted into pit
- Mid-October 2023: The main installation work completed
- Early November 2023: Dry commissioning completed
- 10 November 2023: Wet commissioning officially commenced
- 27 November 2023: First run of the unit
- 10 December 2023: First synchronisation test in turbine mode completed
Andritz said that the project saw it take a much greater role in whole power plant equipment commissioning than it had ever done previously. The company is working on several other projects in China too, as well as as in Turkey, Brazil and Scotland (with the Cruachan plant, covered by our sister site Solar Power Portal).
At 3.6GW the Fengning plant is larger than what is widely reported to be the largest existing PHES plant in the world, the Bath County plant in Virginia, US, which has a power rating of 3,003MW.
Larger projects are underway elsewhere, including the 5GW Pioneer-Burdekin project in Queensland, Australia. The Queensland government just announced that 5 kilometres of core samples have been collected and solid granite will now be confirmed structurally through the site.
China brought 6.7GW of hydropower capacity into service last year according to the International Hydropower Association, of which 6.2GW was PHES. It intends to reach 80GW of PHES by 2027 and a total hydropower capacity of up to 120GW by 2030.