On the arrival of the 2022 Chinese Spring Festival, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected Shanxi Ruiguang Heat & Power Co., Ltd. (“Shanxi Ruiguang” for short) and learned in detail about the company’s performance on energy conservation and emissions reduction, productivity increase and safety of heat supply during his visit to Shanxi Province where he talked with county and village officials and villagers. As a national demonstration coal-fired power plant, the plant uses electromechanical equipment and auxiliary furnaces produced by Shanghai Electric in its two 300MW cogeneration units, and took the lead in Shanxi Province to implement ultra-low emissions technologies by adopting Shanghai Electric’s competitive technological upgrade solution: flexible operation of low-pressure cylinders and cylinder cutting transform plan.

President Xi Jinping inspected operation data in the central generation management room of thermal units, smart fuel management center and the automatic lab of Shanxi Ruiguang, and talked with on-site technicians about the plant’s efforts to improve emissions reduction and energy conservation, productivity and production safety. He stressed that in light of China’s fossil fuel structure characterized by abundant coal reserves but oil and natural shortage, we shall consolidate basics for energy generation by securing coal supply, and coordinate low-carbon and diversified utilization, as well as comprehensive storage and transportation of the coal-based industry by speeding up green and low-carbon technological breakthroughs and industrial structure upgrades. Proactive and stable efforts must be made to achieve goals of carbon peaking and neutrality to make contributions to the fulfillment of the second “Centenary Goal” and the building of the community of a shared future for mankind.

As one of the major heat suppliers for Taiyuan City and Jinzhong City, Shanxi Ruiguang every winter provides heat to 10% of Taiyuan’s total area supported by its central heating system and 40% of that of Jinzhong, totaling around 24,000,000 m2. Thanks to its excellent heat supply capability and the cost-effectiveness and safety of operation, the No.2 unit and No.1 high back-pressure unit supplement each other after being upgraded by Shanghai Electric, and ensure efficient heat supply and remarkable social benefits. So far, the renovated unit has entered its second winter, running safely and stably. The flexibility-oriented upgrade solution implemented on Shanxi Ruiguang’s No.2 unit is a symbolic case of thermal plant upgrade by Shanghai Electric, which fully shows its technological strength and characteristics.

The two steam turbine units used are subcritical 300MW air-cooled turbines produced by Shanghai Electric Power Generation Equipment Co., Ltd. Turbine Works. As the need for heat grew beyond its supply capacity, Shanxi Ruiguang cooperated with Shanghai Electric in 2020 to upgrade its facilities, and they agreed on the flexible operation of low-pressure cylinders and cylinder cutting transform plan. The plant’s performance afterwards proved that the solution was easy in the implementation and safe in operation. The generation-3 turbo-generator with double internal water-cooling systems used is invented by Shanghai Electric Power Generation Equipment Co., Ltd. Turbine Generator Works. Compared with regular hydrogen-cooled or water-cooled turbines, this model features higher safety and less difficulty in repairing and maintenance. What’s more, it can cut infrastructure and equipment costs by large because hydrogen is not used for cooling, making it unnecessary for the power plant to build hydrogen production facilities. The subcritical 300MW single-reheat furnace further optimized its design according to the client’s strict requirements through using corner tangential firing, single intermediate reheat and dry ash extraction technologies.