CNPC marks a major step to green transition

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has marked a major step in its green transition with the successful commissioning of its largest-ever solar project at the Tarim oilfield in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the company said on Wednesday.

The 1.3 million kilowatt photovoltaic facility located in Northwest China, is now connected to the national grid and also consists of a massive energy storage station with 130,000 kW/260,000 kWh capacity. It underscores CNPC's commitment to renewable energy, significantly boosting clean power generation and supporting its low-carbon transformation strategy.

The green power generated will be transmitted through the national grid to the load centers in the eastern parts of China, further ensuring sufficient green power supply, said Cui Wei, deputy manager of CNPC's new energy division at the Tarim Oilfield.

The project is expected to generate 2.1 billion kWh of clean electricity annually, which will also ensure CNPC's 1.2 million tons per year ethylene project at the local petrochemical plant to operate entirely on green electricity, alleviating local power shortages during peak demand and improving the regional energy mix.