- China Three Gorges Corporation launched a 1-gigawatt hybrid solar plant in Xinjiang's Gobi Desert, combining PV panels with concentrated solar power using molten salt for thermal storage.
- The plant can generate power for up to eight hours after sunset without lithium batteries, with the 100 MW CSP unit providing dispatchable evening output.
- It features a linear Fresnel design for improved efficiency and has supplied over 6.54 million kWh to the grid since its 2025 connection, aiming for 2.07 TWh annually.
- The project surpasses Dubai's Noor Energy 1 as the world's largest CSP-PV hybrid, supporting China's renewable goals and reducing CO2 emissions by about 1.63 million tons per year.
- While CSP thermal storage offers large capacity and long discharge cycles, its cost competitiveness against falling lithium battery prices remains a key challenge for future scalability.
- China plans to expand hybrid solar capacity, including a 3 GW second phase at Hami, highlighting its focus on industrializing molten-salt storage at utility scale.