1,000 MWh compressed CO2 storage in Xinjiang

China Huadian has connected to the grid, in Mulei, Xinjiang, a 100 MW, 1,000 MWh compressed CO₂ storage plant, with ten hours of nominal discharge and about 200 GWh a year expected at full operation. Dongfang Electric is the EPC contractor, and the plant sits in the same complex as 600 MW of wind and 400 MW of solar.

Revenue for this kind of asset gained a national rule in January. Notice No. 114/2026 from the NDRC and NEA, dated 27/1/2026, allows provinces to pay a capacity price to grid-side independent storage that is not paired with generation. The base is the local coal capacity price, adjusted by the ratio between full-power discharge duration and the year's longest net-load peak, capped at 1.

With ten hours, the ratio reaches the cap whenever the longest net peak is shorter than that; a two-hour battery receives the proportional fraction. The article consulted does not state the plant's revenue model or whether it qualifies as independent.

The technical step is done. The asset's value now depends on how Xinjiang classifies it.