The world's largest single-unit concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in terms of thermal energy storage capacity and mirror field area, the 350 MW Golmud demonstration project started construction on Tuesday in an industrial park in Golmud, Northwest China's Qinghai Province, the Science and Technology Daily reported.

The project, developed by China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), adopts a hybrid molten-salt tower and trough technology route, enabling large-scale application of CGN's self-developed molten-salt trough solar collector system with an 8.6-meter aperture—the largest in the world, according to the report.

Once completed, it is expected to provide a replicable and scalable model for China's concentrated solar power industry development, said the report.

The CGN's project features a total mirror field reflective area of 3.7 million square meters, including three tower-type mirror fields of 1.1 million square meters each and one parabolic trough mirror field of 400,000 square meters.

The parabolic trough collector technology enables stable operation with an inlet temperature of 290 degree Celsius and an outlet temperature of 550 degree Celsius, achieving a thermal storage temperature difference of 260 degree Celsius — 2.6 times that of conventional heat transfer oil systems.

All core components of the integrated system were developed through joint efforts led by CGN and major domestic enterprises, achieving 100 percent indigenous control of key technologies.