The Gansu Provincial Development and Reform Commission has given its approval to a mega energy storage pilot project with capacity to store 720 MWh of clean energy. The system, which operates as a Virtual Power Plant, could get to store an amount of electricity that guarantees, once released, an autonomy of up to 4 hours.
The commission says the initial phase will require 1.2 billion yuan ($174 million) and the project is expected to be completed in 2019.

The project underscores China’s efforts to balance out renewable generation that fluctuates depending on the amount of available wind or sunlight. The country’s clean generation capacity expanded to 706 gigawatts and its wind and solar curtailment rates were at 7.7 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, as of the end of September.

Subsequent expansion of the Gansu project will depend on the needs of the grid as well as market conditions, the provincial authority said. When completed, the project will be the largest energy storage virtual power plant in China, according to the statement.