Yumen, Gansu Province, located in the western part of the Hexi Corridor, is the core area of the Jiuquan 10-million-kilowatt wind power base. This area is characterized by strong winds, abundant sand, and significant temperature differences. It is also home to the Yumen Pumped Storage Power Station, a key national “14th Five-Year Plan” pumped storage project.
The power station has a total installed capacity of 1200MW, a designed annual power generation of 1.528 billion kilowatt-hours, a rated head of 425 meters, and a service life of 100 years. It is not only the State Grid’s first pumped storage power station in Gansu, but also a benchmark project for large-scale high-altitude pumped storage in China, undertaking the important tasks of absorbing new energy in Northwest China and regulating the power grid’s peak and frequency.
In January 2025, Kaiquan won the bid for the complete set of electromechanical equipment for the project, becoming the sole supplier of pump sets. This is not a simple equipment supply, but a complete delivery chain from manufacturing to installation, commissioning, and operation and maintenance.
The more demanding the operating conditions, the more customized the solution.
The project site is located in a high-altitude desert area, with winter temperatures dropping to -30℃ and summer temperatures reaching 40℃, characterized by strong winds, sandstorms, and thin air. Ordinary pump sets are highly susceptible to cavitation, efficiency degradation, and difficulty starting at low temperatures in such environments.
Kaiquan’s technical team customized two core pump sets to address these pain points.
Both pump sets utilize special cold-weather-resistant, corrosion-resistant, and wear-resistant materials. Key components have undergone high-altitude reinforcement treatment, ensuring stable operation in all weather conditions under extreme temperature differences (-30℃ to 40℃) and sandstorms.
Efficiency data far exceeds industry standards, with net positive suction head (NPSH) precisely controlled at 5.3 meters and 5.2 meters, eliminating cavitation wear and efficiency degradation at the source.
One-stop delivery, matching the pace of a century-long project.
The power station is designed for a 100-year service life, requiring the pump sets to have the reliability for long-term, uninterrupted operation. Kaiquan employs a modular, customized design, resulting in units with low vibration and zero leakage. Equipped with an intelligent control system, it enables fully automated regulation, remote operation and maintenance, and seamless integration with power plant monitoring and grid dispatching systems.
The project adopts a one-stop service model encompassing equipment manufacturing, installation and commissioning, and operation and maintenance. Kaiquan, as the sole service provider, is responsible for the entire process, from equipment production and on-site construction to commissioning and maintenance. Phased delivery and simultaneous commissioning, precisely matching construction milestones, significantly shorten the integration cycle and avoid the industry pain point of poor coordination among multiple suppliers.
Customer Benefits: On-time commissioning, cost reduction, and carbon reduction
The power plant’s timely commissioning directly provides the Gansu power grid with rapid peak-shaving capabilities, smoothing out fluctuations in wind and solar power output and reducing wind and solar curtailment. The high-efficiency units reduce the power plant’s own power consumption, resulting in lower operating costs throughout its lifecycle. Simultaneously, the successful application of domestically produced high-end pump sets breaks the dependence on imported equipment in the pumped storage field.
The Yumen pumped storage power station is transforming from blueprint to reality. Kaiquan’s six pump sets are already in place.
Pumped storage is a crucial component in the national “dual-carbon” strategy and the construction of a new power system. Kaiquan has delivered a replicable and scalable engineering model with its complete pump unit solution for extreme high-altitude operating conditions.
From the Gobi Desert in Northwest China to more green energy bases, Kaiquan uses reliable equipment to safeguard the stable delivery of every kilowatt-hour of clean electricity.
