“化工城”吉林推进“源网荷储”一体化 绘就绿色低碳图景"Chemical Industry City" in Jilin Promotes the Integration of 'Source-Grid-Load-Storage,' Drawing a Green and Low-Carbon Picture

Jilin City in Jilin Province is promoting energy transition through an integrated layout of 'source-grid-load-storage.' This city, known for its chemical industry, is filled with chemical plants and production facilities. In recent years, by coordinating power sources, grids, electricity loads, and energy storage resources, it has improved the capacity for renewable energy consumption and grid peak regulation. Projects such as hydrogen energy sightseeing trains, pumped storage power stations, and flexible retrofits of thermal power plants have been successively implemented.

At the foot of Beishan Mountain, at the Ji-Hai Railway Ruins Park, the 'Hidong' cultural tourism sightseeing train departs from the platform. The train operates without roaring or exhaust emissions, with only the light sound of wheels running over the tracks. This is the first hydrogen energy cultural tourism sightseeing train in China to carry passengers in operation. Since beginning trial operations with passengers on February 1, it has hosted tens of thousands of tourists from China and abroad. The hydrogen energy sightseeing train is a typical application scenario of Jilin City's integrated 'source-grid-load-storage' layout.

On the western slope of Changbai Mountain, the Jiaohe Pumped Storage Power Station is under construction. Deep inside the tunnels, water vapor seeps from the rock walls. Dai Jiayu, a hydraulic management specialist from the Engineering Department of State Grid New Energy Jilin Jiaohe Pumped Storage Co., Ltd., explained that there is a vertical drop of about 50 meters from this spot to the surface, while the natural water head difference between the upper and lower reservoirs of the power station reaches 392 meters. Stepping out of the tunnel, the lower reservoir dam construction site shows machinery operating in an orderly manner. The project has now reached a critical stage, with all the embankment filling of the lower reservoir dam completed.

Jiaohe Pumped Storage Power Station is the first pumped storage power station to start construction in Jilin Province during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. It has a total investment of 6.97 billion yuan, an installed capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts, and is equipped with four 300,000-kilowatt reversible pump-turbine generator units. The project is planned to be fully operational in 2029. With the continuous expansion of wind and photovoltaic installations in Jilin City, the fluctuation of renewable energy output has increased, adding pressure to the grid for peak regulation and consumption. Pumped storage has therefore become an important means of regulation. Local plans also include the Jiaohe Tiangang, Huadian Mujihe, and Shulan Yushugou pumped storage sites.

On the thermal power side, the capacity replacement projects of Guoneng Jilin Thermal Power Plant and others have recently seen two units put into full-capacity operation. The on-site technical director explained that during periods of high wind power generation, thermal power reduces its load, and the electric boiler converts the surplus electricity into heat for the city's heating network; during peak electricity demand, the electric boiler stops, and the thermal power units quickly compensate to supply electricity. The complete facility includes one 50 MW electrode steam boiler and three 50 MW electrode hot water boilers, effectively expanding the space for green electricity consumption.

Building on pumped storage peak regulation and the flexibility transformation of thermal power, Jilin City continues to develop renewable energy industry projects. The Jilin Petrochemical transformation and upgrading project has a total investment of nearly 34 billion yuan and is China Petroleum's first chemical project entirely powered by green electricity, using green power to enhance traditional chemical production and optimize the energy consumption structure of high-energy-consuming industries. The 300,000-kilowatt wind power project supporting Jilin Chemical Fiber is progressing, and the industrial cycle of 'green electricity produces materials, materials produce equipment, equipment generates green electricity' is expected to further take shape. Jilin City is also integrated into the province-wide hydrogen energy corridor layout, building a full-chain system of 'production, storage, transportation, and utilization,' with projects such as the Jilin–Songhua Lake–Beidahu hydrogen locomotive railway demonstration project and liquid green methanol steadily advancing. From a sightseeing train to a pumped-storage power station, and then to a chemical project entirely powered by green electricity, Jilin City's transformation path points to the same goal: adjusting the energy consumption structure of a traditional industrial city in line with the growth of renewable energy installations, and turning the high-energy-consuming nature of the chemical industry into a scenario advantage for green electricity utilization. [Source: China News Service Jilin] [Editor: Xiao Neng]