China News Network Liangshan, April 4 Topic: "Wind Chaser" in Daliangshan
Author Zhu Huan
Facing the cold wind, passing through the thorny shrubs, climbing over the 4000,91-meter mountain, climbing the peak to explore the location data; Turning hundreds of bends, transporting for more than half a month, transporting <>-meter-long wind turbine blades to the top of a steep mountain; Always observe the wind speed, wait for dozens of hours to complete the fan hoisting... In Yanyuan County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, there is such a group of "wind chasers", who ignore the cold and heat, dot one fan after another on the plateau, and send clean energy "blown out" by the wisps of wind in Daliangshan to thousands of households.
It is understood that Yanyuan County is located in the southeast edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with many mountains and valleys in the territory, and the special geographical location has given Yanyuan superior wind energy resources, and the average wind speed of wind energy resource intensive areas in Yanyuan County is more than 6 meters per second, and the development of clean energy has unique advantages. Since Huadian Xinneng Yanyuan Company settled in Yanyuan in 2014, under the continuous efforts of "wind chasers", majestic fans have risen here.
Wind is a pollution-free energy source, the use of wind power is very environmentally friendly, and the electricity that can be generated is very huge, wind energy is a clean renewable energy. "The time distribution of wind energy in Liangshan coincides with the abundance and drought period of hydropower resources, which is very conducive to the integrated development of 'feng shui complementarity'." In the view of He Lilong, a professor at the School of Economics of Sichuan University, Sichuan is the country's largest hydropower development and west-to-east power transmission base, the world's largest solar silicon production base, solar energy, wind energy, geothermal resources are also very rich, of which geothermal resources rank third in the country, the development of clean energy has a unique advantage.
Transport blades on winding mountain roads. Photo courtesy of Huadian Xinneng Salt Source Company
In Yanyuan County, Liangshan Prefecture, the construction of wind power projects is in full swing. According to reports, the 5 MW type wind turbine blade of the Yanyuan wind power project weighs 22.5 tons each, the length is 91 meters, the diameter is 183 meters, and the wind wheel sweeping area is equivalent to the size of 3.6 football fields. How to transport these behemoths to the top of the mountain and successfully lift them has naturally become the first challenge.
Since the construction of the first wind farm began, Chen Shiqi, head of the engineering department of Huadian Xinneng Salt Source Company, who is responsible for the transportation and lifting of wind turbines, has experienced thousands of transportations. In his opinion, the most difficult thing to transport these out-of-gauge equipment is the limitation of roads and air barriers. "In the Dahe Wind Power Project, it took more than 40 days to transport the equipment to the machine from the entrance of the wind farm to the machine station 50 kilometers." Chen Shiqi said that the winding mountain road, the side cliffs, the staggered trees, the steep terrain, etc. have brought great difficulties to transportation, and when the road along the way does not have the transportation conditions, the road must be readjusted and the empty barrier treatment.
Rows of "steel giants" stand on the top of the mountain, forming a beautiful scenery. Photo courtesy of Huadian Xinneng Salt Source Company
Chen Shiqi said that the equipment of the Yanyuan Wind Power Project adopts a "lifting vehicle" during transportation, and the special vehicle can lift the blades and rotate 360 degrees through hydraulic control during driving, avoiding various restrictions such as mountain slopes, trees, and power lines during transportation. "Generally, a transportation requires the cooperation of about ten people, including drivers, operators, command staff, safety guardians, etc." Chen Shiqi said that it is in this way that windmill blades with a length of 91 meters are sent to each position for lifting.
The blades of the Houlongshan wind power project took more than 10 days to drive more than 20 kilometers for trial transportation. Not only that, the construction of the alpine wind farm to which the wind power project belongs in Yanyuan County has difficulties compared with the construction of general wind farms such as lack of oxygen at high altitude, road construction during flood season, concrete pouring in winter, and hoisting in the windy season.
The 5 MW model of the Yanyuan wind power project has a hub height of 105 meters, equivalent to 33 stories high, and how to overcome the windy season to "rush into the sky" after the blades go up the mountain? "The windy season of Yanyuan is from October of that year to March of the following year, in order to solve the problem of lifting in the windy season, the company takes a variety of measures, while making full use of the wind power prediction system to measure the trend of wind speed changes, arrange special personnel to monitor 10 hours a day, once the wind speed meets the lifting conditions, immediately lift." Yan Hong, assistant director of the engineering construction department of Huadian Xinneng Yanyuan Company, said that the installation of the fan is also "relying on the sky to eat", sometimes waiting for a few days.
Hoisting site. Photo courtesy of Huadian Xinneng Salt Source Company
"We use the light wind season or light wind period to carry out intensive maintenance work to complete as much maintenance work as possible, shorten the downtime of the wind turbine, and improve the availability of the wind turbine." Zhou Junjie, director of the production technology department of Huadian Xinneng Yanyuan Company, said that in order to "seize every wisp of wind and seize every kWh of electricity", the company actively overcomes the adverse effects of small wind years and other adverse effects, and strives to maximize business benefits through lean operations.
In Liangshan, there are many "wind chasers" like them. With the efforts of the "wind chaser", rows of "steel giants" stand on the top of the mountain, and the fan blades swirl with the howling mountain wind, forming a beautiful landscape.
In recent years, the national level and the Sichuan provincial party committee and government have positioned Liangshan as an important national clean energy base, and have given strong support for planning and policies. The "14th Five-Year Plan for Clean Energy Industry Development in Liangshan Prefecture" also proposes to focus on major national strategic opportunities such as "carbon neutrality and carbon peaking" to build a clean energy demonstration zone with national influence. The "wind chaser" in Daliangshan will continue to write a legend here and play a role in the country's realization of the "dual carbon" goal. (End)