Recently, the awards ceremony for the 6th Integrated Energy Services Best Practice Case Selection was successfully concluded. Guangdong Zhiguang Integrated Energy Co., Ltd. (“Zhiguang Integrated Energy”), together with Inner Mongolia Chuangyuan Metal Co., Ltd., received the “Source-Grid-Load-Storage Innovation Practice Project Award” for their Green Power Direct Connection Source-Grid-Load-Storage Integrated Project. The project stood out for its technological innovation, outstanding implementation results, and strong industry demonstration value.
This year's selection process combined online public voting with expert evaluation by the editorial committee. Following multiple rounds of project solicitation, public voting, and final expert review, a panel of 20 industry experts assessed candidates across four key dimensions: technological innovation, implementation effectiveness, business model innovation, and demonstration value.
The award-winning project is located in the Holingol Aluminum Industrial Park in Inner Mongolia and addresses the challenges of low-carbon transformation in energy-intensive industries. It establishes an integrated system featuring direct renewable power supply and coordinated operation of renewable generation, energy storage, and industrial loads.
The project has a planned renewable energy capacity of 1,750 MW, supported by 262.5 MW /1,050 MWh of energy storage capacity. Construction is being carried out in three phases. Through a load-oriented planning approach, the project enables full local consumption of renewable electricity, maximizing the utilization of green power resources.
The project adopts Zhiguang’s proprietary Grid-Forming Cascaded High-Voltage Direct-to-Grid Energy Storage Technology.
Based on a Virtual Synchronous Generator (VSG) voltage-source grid-forming control architecture, the energy storage system is capable of independently establishing and maintaining voltage and frequency, similar to a conventional synchronous generator. Through droop control and damping characteristics, the system can rapidly regulate grid frequency, significantly improving power quality and operational stability in isolated and weak-grid environments.
Three Industry-Leading Achievements
The project has set three notable industry records:
1.China’s First Black-Start Demonstration Combining Renewable Energy, Grid-Forming Energy Storage, and Thermal Power Generation: Successfully coordinated the black start of a 330 MW thermal power unit.
2.High-Efficiency Transformer-Free 35 kV Direct-to-Grid Architecture: Utilizes a cascaded H-bridge topology directly connected to a 35 kV grid without transformers, achieving a system charge-discharge efficiency exceeding 92%: Largest Grid-Forming Energy Storage Deployment in an Integrated Source-Grid-Load-Storage Project in China. Establishes a new industry benchmark for the electrolytic aluminum sector through the innovative “Direct Green Power Supply + Source-Grid-Load-Storage Integration” model.
All renewable electricity generated by the project is consumed on-site. Upon full completion and operation, the project is expected to generate approximately 5.4 billion kWh of renewable electricity annually, achieving a green power substitution rate of approximately 48% and significantly reducing the enterprise’s purchased electricity costs.
The project is also expected to:Save approximately 1.77 million tonnes of standard coal annually; Reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 5.38 million tonnes per year. These outcomes demonstrate substantial improvements in both economic performance and environmental sustainability.
Looking ahead, Zhiguang Integrated Energy will continue to deepen its expertise in source-grid-load-storage integration and leverage its core technologies to expand applications across diverse scenarios, including energy-intensive industries, zero-carbon industrial parks, AI and intelligent computing centers, and off-grid microgrids.
By continuously delivering customized integrated energy solutions, the company remains committed to supporting the development of China's new power system, advancing the country's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, and leading the integrated energy industry toward greener, larger-scale, and higher-quality growth.
