On April 6, 2026, construction officially began on the CGN Xizang Wumatang 50 MW parabolic trough Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project — the world's highest-altitude CSP project of its kind — in Wumatang Township, Damxung County, Lhasa. Located at an altitude of 4,550 meters, the project simultaneously achieves the first commercial application of China's fully independent 8.6-meter large-aperture parabolic trough collector. It is also equipped with a 6-hour molten salt energy storage system, enabling continuous power generation at night and flexible peak-load regulation, thereby providing stable and reliable clean power to support the Xizang power grid.

▲ Construction site of the CGN Xizang Wumatang 50 MW CSP project on the day construction began

The project uses parabolic trough technology with thermal oil as the heat transfer fluid. The solar collector field covers an area of 242,000 square meters and comprises a total of 68 loops. Among these, 8 loops are equipped with CGN's self-developed 8.6-meter large-aperture parabolic trough collectors, while the remaining 60 loops use collectors with an aperture width of 5.77 meters.

Mei Fangquan, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director General of the Xizang Autonomous Region Energy Administration, stated that CSP has the potential to serve both as a peak-load regulation power source and a baseload power source in Xizang. Accelerating the construction of CSP projects can effectively enhance the regulation and support capacity of the local power system. He expressed the hope that CGN and all project participants will focus on the goal of ensuring energy supply, organize management diligently, and strive to achieve grid connection and power generation as soon as possible, thereby making positive contributions to energy supply security in Xizang.

"The 8.6-meter large-aperture parabolic trough collector is the largest-aperture trough collector currently in commercial use internationally," said Hu Guangyao, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Chairman of CGN New Energy Holdings Co., Ltd. He further explained that compared to the 5.77-meter aperture collector, this collector improves the concentration ratio and energy flux density by 18% and 17.5% respectively, while reducing the unit power generation cost by 10%. The commercial application of this technology will effectively drive the collaborative upgrading of China's entire parabolic trough CSP industrial chain and further strengthen the localization capability for key materials and core components, marking a leap in China's core equipment for parabolic trough CSP technology from technology introduction to independent innovation.

▲ Master plan of the CGN Xizang Wumatang 50 MW CSP project

The project is located in a high-altitude, oxygen-deficient area, facing extreme natural conditions such as low annual average temperatures, large day-night temperature differences, low air density, and strong ultraviolet radiation. The effective construction period is limited to only April through October each year. In plateau regions above 4,000 meters, every 100-meter increase in altitude significantly reduces worker efficiency and increases construction difficulty. The project team will always prioritize the physical and mental health of all personnel involved. It will provide living quarters with heating and oxygen supply facilities, and will establish high-pressure oxygen chambers as a supporting measure, making every effort to ensure the health and safety of the construction team and the smooth progress of the project.

Yin Hang, CGN's Chief Expert (CSP Technology), stated that the team has innovatively developed system integration technology for large-aperture parabolic trough collector projects. Through specialized designs such as high-precision tracking control optimization and high-altitude structural adaptation for wind and frost resistance, the team has successfully overcome the industry's technical bottleneck to achieving long-term, stable system operation in high-altitude environments. The National Energy Research and Development Center for Solar Thermal Power Technology has established a research institution in Xizang, based on this project, to focus on tackling key and difficult technical challenges and providing related services.

The CSP project now under construction is a core component of CGN's integrated "CSP + PV" project in Wumatang, Damxung County, Xizang. This integrated project includes 50 MW of CSP generation and 400 MW of PV generation, and is scheduled for full commissioning in 2027. The PV part of the project began construction in September 2025 and adopts a "'pastoral-PV complementarity' (agrivoltaics)" model, achieving coordinated development of PV generation and ecological animal husbandry. The CSP project is equipped with a 6-hour molten salt energy storage system and a 20 MW electric molten salt heater, enabling it to absorb curtailed PV power and effectively compensate for the intermittency and fluctuation of PV generation, thereby meeting peak evening electricity demand during both wet and dry seasons in the local power grid. According to estimates, after the integrated project is fully completed, it is expected to generate approximately 719 million kWh of on-grid electricity annually, equivalent to saving about 216,900 tonnes of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 652,300 tonnes.

To date, the project has generated a cumulative total of more than 2,000 local employment opportunities, contributing over RMB 5.2 million in economic income to the local area through the hiring of local labor and the use of locally sourced machinery and equipment. In addition, leveraging this project, the local government has actively carried out professional skills training programs, helping local farmers and herders transition into skilled workers, thereby effectively promoting local income growth and employment.

CGN is a pioneer and industry leader in China's CSP sector. Since initiating its CSP business development and technology research in 2011, CGN obtained approval in 2013 to establish the National Energy Research and Development Center for Solar Thermal Power Technology, the only national-level R&D platform in China's CSP field. To date, it has completed 19 technological achievement appraisals. CGN built and put into operation China's first large-scale commercial CSP demonstration plant — the CGN Delingha 50 MW CSP demonstration project — which achieved a record-high on-grid electricity generation of 146 million kWh in 2025. The company also built and commissioned the CGN Delingha 1,000 MW CSP-PV integrated project, which is one of the "Top 100 Projects" in strategic emerging industries identified by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Within this project, the 200 MW tower-type CSP plant is China's largest single tower-type CSP facility of its kind. Playing an active role as an industry leader, CGN has been granted 68 patents in the CSP field, led or participated in the development of 30 national and industry standards, and promoted the establishment of the CSP Branch of the China Electricity Council, where it was elected as the Executive Vice Chairman unit. Through these efforts, CGN is leading industry-wide collaboration to drive the high-quality development of China's CSP sector.