China Three Gorges Group has connected to the grid a 1 GW hybrid concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic complex in Hami, Xinjiang, in what is described as the world’s largest integrated facility of its kind.
Before this achievement, the world's largest CSP-PV plant was the Noor Energy 1 project in the UAE, with a total capacity of 950 MW, of which 700 MW of CSP and 250 MW of PV.
The project, built on 1,817 hectares of desert at the southern foot of the Tianshan mountains, comprises a 100 MW linear Fresnel CSP plant with eight hours of molten salt storage and 900 MW of solar PV. With average annual sunshine exceeding 3,000 hours, the region offers optimal conditions for large-scale solar development.
Construction began in 2023. The PV section was completed and grid-connected by the end of 2024, while the thermal plant entered full operation in September 2025, 42 days ahead of schedule. Total investment amounts to CNY 3.53 billion ($480 million), with China Energy Engineering’s Northwest Institute and other domestic suppliers providing core EPC services and technical systems.
The thermal plant deploys 260,000 high-precision curved reflectors focusing sunlight onto 800,000 sq m of absorber tubes, heating molten salt to 550 C. The design improves heat conversion efficiency by up to 10% compared with conventional Fresnel systems. A modular 46-loop configuration allows continued operation during maintenance, while innovations in salt circulation enable reliable performance in winter conditions reaching minus 20°C.
The hybrid system is designed to provide continuous power supply. During the day, the PV field generates electricity at full load while simultaneously charging the thermal storage system. At night or in low-light conditions, the stored heat drives steam turbines to deliver stable generation. A centralized control platform allocates output between PV and thermal resources with frequency regulation accuracy of around 0.02Hz and response times under one second.
At full capacity, the facility is expected to produce 2.07 TWh of electricity annually, enough to power 830,000 households. It will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.63 million tons per year and improve grid integration of renewables in Xinjiang, lifting regional utilization rates above 95%.
The project also brings local economic benefits, with around 500 jobs created and associated industries in solar equipment and engineering services stimulated. Ecological restoration measures are underway, with drought-resistant vegetation planted across the site to combat desertification.
Beijing has identified hybrid projects combining PV with thermal storage as a strategic technology for balancing intermittent renewables. The Hami plant sets global benchmarks in Fresnel deployment and molten salt performance and is included in China’s national list of advanced low-carbon demonstration projects.
Three Gorges Group plans to expand the Hami base to 3GW in a second phase and replicate the model across resource-rich provinces, including Inner Mongolia and Gansu. Analysts say such integrated projects could become a vital pillar to China’s long-term energy transition, offering a scalable pathway for desert solar development and grid stability.
