255万千瓦与135万吨：通辽给“绿电+电解铝”出了一道新题2.55 million kilowatts and 1.35 million tons: Tongliao presents a new challenge for 'green electricity electrolysis aluminum'

Minghui

2.55 million kilowatts of renewable energy installed capacity and 1.5 million kilowatts of new-type energy storage—these are the annual targets that Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, wrote into its 2026 government work report. Alongside these two figures are 50 strong grid projects and a virtual power plant that is under development. A resource-based city located on the Horqin Grassland is seeking a new answer to the old question of 'how to use renewable energy.'

Tongliao's resource account is quite clear: it has abundant wind and solar resources, and its location is near the northeastern demand center, making it one of the regions in Inner Mongolia that has both the conditions for renewable energy development and consumption. But having good resources does not necessarily mean they are well utilized. In recent years, experiences from many places in Inner Mongolia have repeatedly shown that the speed of renewable energy installation often exceeds the speed at which the grid's acceptance and local consumption capacity are formed. Tongliao has listed strong grid projects as a key annual focus precisely to fill the gap between power generation and the grid—50 strong grid projects aim to reinforce the network structure and expand outgoing transmission channels, while the virtual power plant aggregates scattered adjustable loads, storage, and distributed power sources to form an 'invisible power plant' that can be directly dispatched by the grid.

What truly sets Tongliao apart from other energy cities is aluminum. Relying on the coal resources of Holingol, an integrated coal-power-aluminum industry cluster was established here in the early years. Electrolytic aluminum is a high-energy-consuming industry, and electricity prices directly determine its competitiveness. In the coal-power era, low coal prices brought the advantage of low-cost electricity; in the low-carbon era, the same high energy consumption has become a burden under carbon constraints. The carbon emissions of electrolytic aluminum mainly come from electricity consumption, and replacing coal power with green electricity is the most direct decarbonization path for this industry chain.

Tongliao's choice is to tie both together. According to public information, Holingol has completed green aluminum certification for a cumulative 306,000 tons, with a target of increasing the certified volume to 1.35 million tons by 2026, while promoting the establishment of a national pilot for carbon footprint labeling and certification of electrolytic aluminum. Certification may seem abstract, but its practical significance is very real—when exporting electrolytic aluminum or entering the supply chains of multinational companies, the product's carbon footprint data is becoming a mandatory threshold. Whoever first establishes a verifiable and traceable green aluminum certification system will first obtain a green pass.

This confidence comes from the accumulation during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Holingol has invested a total of 2.05 billion yuan to complete 43 energy-saving technological transformation projects, and its GDP energy consumption per unit fell by 32% compared with 2020, while it was also among the first to be selected as a carbon peak pilot in the autonomous region. Gradually reducing the energy intensity of high-energy-consuming industries is a prerequisite for promoting green electricity substitution—if the production side itself is inefficient, no amount of green electricity will prevent waste.

A longer industrial blueprint has already been laid out. According to the plan, Tongliao aims to form a capacity pattern of 6 million tons of alumina, 1 million tons of recycled aluminum, and 5 million tons of deep-processed aluminum by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan. Extending the industrial chain downstream—from electrolytic aluminum to alumina, recycled aluminum, and deep-processed aluminum—means that the same green electricity can carry higher added value. The energy consumption of recycled aluminum is only a small fraction of primary aluminum; expanding recycled aluminum production is equivalent to producing more aluminum with less electricity, which is a more cost-effective approach given limited green electricity resources.

The coupling of renewable energy and high-energy-consuming industries has also pushed energy storage to a critical position. This year, Tongliao proposed adding 1.5 million kilowatts of renewable energy storage. The goal is not simply to increase capacity, but to resolve the conflict between the fluctuations of wind and solar output and the continuous production of aluminum electrolysis. Aluminum electrolysis production lines require a highly stable power supply, while the output curves of wind and photovoltaic power naturally fluctuate. The resulting gaps must be filled jointly by energy storage, grid adjustment capabilities, and demand-side response. The configuration of energy storage, its scheduling rules, and revenue mechanisms directly determine whether this 'green electricity–aluminum electrolysis' model can be economically viable.

There are also several challenges that need to be addressed. Aluminum electrolysis is extremely sensitive to electricity prices, and substituting with green electricity would change the original cost structure. If the price of green electricity is higher than coal power, corporate enthusiasm will be dampened; the stable supply of green electricity itself is a challenge, as good wind and solar resources do not guarantee sufficient daily generation; furthermore, carbon footprint certification requires full lifecycle data support. Each stage—from mines, alumina, and electrolysis to processing—needs a credible accounting system, which is not a task a single city can complete on its own.

The exploration in Tongliao has reference value for resource-based cities in Inner Mongolia and even across the country. After the rapid growth of renewable energy installations, one of the key issues that needs to be solved during the 15th Five-Year Plan period is how to truly integrate green electricity into industrial production energy consumption, rather than letting it remain only in statistical reports. By deeply linking green electricity with local advantageous industries, making green electricity a part of industrial competitiveness rather than just a power generation indicator, Tongliao's approach provides a direction. The annual goal of 2.55 million kilowatts and the certification of 1.35 million tons of green aluminum test exactly how practical this path can be.

The development of renewable energy in Tongliao is closely related to the construction pace of the country's large-scale wind and photovoltaic bases. As an important renewable energy development area in eastern Inner Mongolia, it undertakes multiple tasks such as the Shago荒 base and guaranteed grid-connected projects. The advantage of base-oriented development lies in significant economies of scale and more economical supporting transmission, but the challenges are also direct—power generation is concentrated in areas with good resources, and consumption must rely on external transmission corridors together with local loads. Cultivating local high-energy-consuming industries into stable consumption outlets is key to whether Tongliao's renewable energy installed capacity can continue to grow.

The implementation of virtual power plants tests aggregation and dispatch capabilities. Aggregating dispersed industrial controllable loads, commercial and industrial energy storage, and charging facilities to form an entity that can be directly called upon by the power grid requires a complete set of technologies and management systems including communication, metering, and settlement. For high-energy-consuming cities, the value of virtual power plants lies in turning 'demand-side resources' into 'system-side regulation capabilities', reducing the need for additional power sources and grid investments to meet peak loads, and providing a practical way to improve system efficiency.

Direct green power connections are becoming a new option for industrial parks. Unlike purchasing electricity uniformly through the grid, the direct green power connection model allows electricity-consuming enterprises to establish a relatively direct supply relationship with renewable energy power plants. The source and quantity of green electricity are clearer, and it is easier to generate verifiable carbon footprint data. For products such as electrolytic aluminum that need to demonstrate green attributes to customers or regulators, this direct connection model is particularly attractive, but its promotion also depends on clear rules regarding transmission line planning and grid access fees.

The external environment is equally important. Tongliao is located in the coverage area of the Northeast power grid. The local electricity supply-demand pattern, outbound transmission channel capacity, and peak regulation resources all affect the local consumption of renewable energy. With the rapid growth of renewable energy installations, the construction of regional grid regulation capabilities and the improvement of cross-provincial and cross-regional trading mechanisms need to advance in tandem with the local industry's green power substitution progress. Only through the coordination of power generation, grid, load, and storage can the coupling of green power and electrolytic aluminum truly work.

Finally, we return to a fundamental judgment: the coupling of green electricity with high energy-consuming industries essentially transforms the advantages of "electricity" into the competitiveness of "products." When major electricity consumers like electrolytic aluminum and data centers can organize production with lower carbon intensity and a more stable supply of green electricity, the bargaining power of regional industries will be built on a new foundation. Green electricity is no longer just a cost reduction element but becomes a source of product added value—this is a consensus that is increasingly forming in many high energy-consuming regions.

(Data in this article come from publicly available information from the Tongliao Municipal People's Government, Inner Mongolia Daily, Tongliao Daily, and China Nonferrous Metals News)

[Research supporting institutions: Energy and Dual-Carbon Research Center of China Industrial Newspaper | China Energy Industry Development Network]