solar power in Yanqing

Some interesting news from Yanqing in 京报网: A new solar power plant will be built in Badaling Township:

首座太阳能发电站落户延庆

First solar power plant will be in Yanqing

亚洲首座MW（兆瓦）级太阳能塔式热发电技术应用项目将落户延庆县八达岭镇。这个太阳能塔式热发电实验电站年发电量达270万度，相当于1100余吨标准煤产生的电量，可减排二氧化碳2300余吨、二氧化硫21吨、氮氧化合物35吨。

Asia’s first megawatt-level solar powered tower-style thermal electricity generation technology project [yeah, I’m really struggling to get a better translation, perhaps some of the pictures offered here might be of assistance, although good luck opening the original sites, or perhaps you can sift through wikipedia for some clues] will be installed in Yanqing County’s Badaling Township. This experimental solar-powered tower-style electricity generation plant will have an annual generation capacity reaching 2.7 million, equivalent to the generation capacity of over 1100 tons of standard coal and cutting emissions of carbon dioxide by over 2300 tons, sulphur dioxide by 21 tons, and oxides of nitrogen by 35 tons.

八达岭太阳能热发电技术及系统示范项目为国家科技部“十一五”863重点项目，由中国科学院电工研究所承担研究建设任务。2009年初拟建太阳 能综合实验室和高100米的太阳能吸热塔等，其中太阳能吸热塔是北京地区长城外最高的建筑物，建筑风格与八达岭景区的风貌混为一体，设计理念充分融入了中 国传统文化和八达岭长城文化特点，建筑方案已经通过专家评审，预计明年年底竣工并投入使用。

The Badaling solar-powered thermal electricity generation technology and system demonstration project is a state science and technology ministry 863 key project of the eleventh five year plan [HELP!!!!!!!!  What the hell is that supposed to mean?!?!?!?], a research and construction duty assumed by the China Academy of Sciences’ Electrical Engineering Research Institute. It is planned to build a comprehensive solar power laboratory and a 100 metre tall solar power tower. The solar power tower will be the tallest structure in Beijing outside the Great Wall, and the construction style will be integrated with the style of the Badaling Scenic Area, and the design principles will be fully integrated with Chinese traditional culture and the characteristics of the culture of the Badaling Great Wall. The design has already been appraised by experts and is expected to be completed and put into use by the end of next year.

该项目在208亩地上将建成100面定日镜，用它收集的太阳光，反射聚集到太阳能吸热塔的吸热器里，将热能通过加热水，产生蒸汽，作为动力发电。

The project will see 100 heliostats installed on 208 mu of land to be used to gather sunlight and reflect and concentrate it onto the solar power tower’s heat absorber, heating water to create steam to generate electricity.

目前，镜场内已有5面定日镜开始测试聚光、跟踪实验，到2010年建成并网后，我国太阳能热发电站的建设将进入一个崭新的历史阶段。

At present there are already 5 heliostats on site starting tests for gathering light and following experiments. When construction is completed and the site is online in 2010, China’s solar-powered thermal electricity station will have entered a brand-new stage of history.

Wow. I can’t quite figure out whether I bit off way more than I can chew with this article, or whether the original writing was amazingly opaque, or both. Constructive criticism isn’t just welcome, it’s demanded.

And it was interesting to see “the highest structure in Beijing outside the Great Wall”- what a statistic. Still, a surprisingly large portion of Beijing’s land, i.e. pretty much all of Yanqing and very large portions of Huairou and Miyun and perhaps part of Pinggu, are on the northern, outer side of the wall, and that land is mostly rural and mountainous- there ain’t too many tall buildings up that way.

Still, the construction of a solar-powered electricity generation project is pretty huge news and a massive step forward. Hopefully the project will be visible from the highway so I can keep an eye on its progress every time we travel to and from our village (Badaling being at the southeastern edge of Yanqing, the entrance to the county, and our village being way out northwest of there, we’ll go past it a lot).