Construction is in full swing at the Huaneng Shanyin 2×1,000 MW "replace small with large" coal power project, with tower cranes standing and pile drivers thundering as large engineering machinery operates in an orderly manner and foundation work proceeds across the site.
As Shanxi Province's first integrated coal power and new energy comprehensive energy base project, the site leveling work has been fully completed and the project has officially entered the pile foundation construction stage.
From reliance on coal alone to a multi-energy mix of wind, solar, thermal, and storage, Shanyin County's energy transition is pressing the fast-forward button.
Replacing small coal units with large ones adds a green core to traditional energy
The Huaneng Shanyin 2×1,000 MW project is located in the Beizhouzhuang Park of the Western District of the Shanyin Economic and Technological Development Zone, and plans to build two 1,000 MW ultra-supercritical air-cooled coal-fired units.
The units adopt the world's leading indirect air-cooling system featuring a steel tower with two machines and one tower, and are equipped with high-efficiency desulfurization, denitrification, and dust removal facilities, with pollutant emission targets aiming for near-zero.
The project can consume 5 million tons of coal per year and convert it into 15 billion kWh of clean electricity.
Crucially, it does not operate as a lone unit it forms a wind-solar-thermal consortium with supporting 4 GW new energy projects, with unified dispatch and unified transmission, turning traditional thermal power from merely a major power generator into a stabilizer and regulator for the grid's green and low-carbon transition.
Kong Yuan, deputy general manager of China Huaneng Group Co., Ltd.'s Shanxi branch, said the Huaneng Shuozhou coal power and new energy integrated base is the largest wind-solar-thermal integrated demonstration project in the province, breaking the traditional model of decentralized development and independent operation of energy sources and achieving bundled, mutually adjustable, and unified transmission of coal power and new energy under one entity.
After the project is put into operation, Shanyin County's total installed power capacity will jump to 4.7 million kilowatts.
This year, the project plans to complete investment of more than 2 billion yuan.
"The land quota had just been issued, and the construction permit was obtained the next day," the person in charge of the project construction side said, deeply impressed by the "development zone speed."
Since the project started, the Shanyin Economic and Technological Development Zone has shifted from a relay race to running side by side, using a combination of commitment system, standard land, and full agency services to turn waiting for projects into chasing projects.
From January to May this year, industrial investment in the Shanyin Economic and Technological Development Zone surged 349% year on year.
Coal power is cutting carbon and adding green, and coal supply assurance is also becoming smarter.
In 2025, the county produced 33.7 million tons of raw coal and completed 5.09 million tons of supply assurance; it completed the construction of two intelligent coal mines, and three coal mines were included in the provincial green mine list.
This year, Shanyin County will complete one more intelligent coal mine upgrade, support five coal mines in increasing production capacity by 8.4 million tons, and resolutely complete the task of ensuring 8.93 million tons of coal supply.
Chasing wind and sun, new energy accounts for 46% of installed capacity
By the end of 2025, Shanyin County's total installed power capacity reached 2.4 million kilowatts, of which new energy accounted for 46%, with annual power generation of 7.7 billion kWh.
China Coal Huayu's Dongniupo 100 MW photovoltaic power generation project was connected to the grid, the Shanyin 100 MW agricultural-photovoltaic complementary photovoltaic energy storage project was successfully connected to the grid, and the Shanyin County 100 MW coal mining subsidence area ecological comprehensive treatment plus photovoltaic hydrogen production base project was successfully connected to the grid.
Former coal mining subsidence areas and barren slopes are turning into photovoltaic seas and green power fields.
New energy depends on the weather, making energy storage a key piece of the puzzle.
This year, Shanyin County is focusing on promoting the construction of the Yuguang Power Generation 200 MW/400 MWh shared hybrid energy storage project, the Xinchun Energy 200 MW/400 MWh new independent shared energy storage project, and the Shuoqiye 400 MW/800 MWh independent energy storage station project.
The Shanxi Ruiguang Zhihui 400 MW/800 MWh independent energy storage project located in the Shanyin Economic and Technological Development Zone has already started construction, and China Energy Engineering Group Shanxi Electric Power Construction won the bid for the project's EPC general contracting on May 29 this year.
At the same time, the bid result for the county's pilot project for strengthening weak links in charging and battery-swapping infrastructure construction general construction contracting project Bid Section 1 was announced, with plans to build 72 centralized charging stack facilities in batches over three years, with a total installed power of 31,320 kilowatts.
The county is accelerating the construction of an integrated development pattern of wind-solar-thermal-storage and source-grid-load-storage, and is working with Huaneng Group to apply for a national new power system pilot, making green power truly become Shanyin's new competitiveness.
Extending and strengthening the chain, transition project investment accounts for 100% of industrial investment
The transition goes beyond power generation.
Walking into the production workshop of Shanxi Hengke New Material Technology Co., Ltd.'s 36,000-ton-per-year lithium battery anode material facility, freshly processed graphite anode powder is slowly emerging from the furnace.
After 25 days of continuous calcination at 3,000 degrees Celsius, it has formed a fine and uniform powder.
The company's person in charge said that current annual production capacity is about 30,000 tons, and the first-phase Line 2 graphitization production line is under construction, with graphitization capacity expected to reach 40,000 tons and annual output value of about 500 million yuan by the end of this year.
As one of the four key materials for lithium-ion batteries, demand for anode materials is growing vigorously with the new energy vehicle and energy storage industries.
In 2025, Shanyin County completed 1.1 billion yuan of investment in transition projects, accounting for 100% of industrial investment that year.
Carbon-based, calcium-based, and solid waste comprehensive utilization projects are advancing in echelon, including Yingsheng's 100,000-ton thermal insulation and soundproof material project, Lubaoxin's 1 million-ton coal gangue comprehensive utilization project, Yuzhu's intelligent gas vertical rotary kiln project, and a 50,000-ton inorganic mineral powder functional coating project.
Projects such as Ruifeng Technology's 2.4 million copper-clad laminate sheets, Zhonghang Ruoyi's smart electrical cabinet, and a dairy products digital intelligent manufacturing base have been completed and put into production.
This year, the Shanyin Economic and Technological Development Zone will also actively apply to become a green power park, making the green power card a hard currency for undertaking high value-added industries such as big data and new materials.
Standing at the starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan, Shanyin County is anchoring its direction toward energy transition, industrial upgrading, and moderate diversification, with a full-year GDP growth target of more than 5%.
Looking at the broader picture, Shuozhou City's new energy installed capacity has reached 10.87 million kilowatts, accounting for 47.7%; after the northern Shanxi coal mining subsidence area new energy base is completed and put into operation, it is expected to transmit about 27 billion kWh of green electricity to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region each year.
From a sea of coal to green power, Shanyin is completing its key leap in this profound energy revolution.
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