Power station solves renewable energy intermittency

Deep in the Qinling Mountains, in Yuehe township, Zhen'an county, Shangluo city, Shaanxi province, lies the massive State Grid Shaanxi Zhen'an pumped storage power station. This project became the station with the largest installed capacity of its kind in northwestern China since all four generating units were put into operation in December 2024.

Xu Hongwei, general manager of State Grid Xinyuan Shaanxi Zhen'an Pumped Storage, described how the station works: "From 10 am to 4 pm daily, when the photovoltaic panels receive sunlight, and the wind turbines in the Gobi desert are rotating at full speed, the units switch to pumping mode and store surplus clean energy in the upper reservoir. Then, during the peak electricity usage hours in the evening, we reverse the process to generate electricity, meeting the daily needs of more than 2 million households."