This 200 kW power generating unit is the country's first power plant combining solar and wind power into power generation. The plant is composed of three elements: a large field of greenhouse-like solar collectors, a central chimney and a turbine generator placed at the chimney base. The theory being that solar heat is absorbed by the hot sand under the glass cover thanks to the greenhouse effect; the hot air thus created flows by convection up the chimney where it is channeled through a turbine and generates electric power.

The advantages of building this type of plant in a desert means that the energy stored in the sand, heated by the sunshine during the day, would also discharge heat at night and continue to run the turbine. Moreover, the system does not need any water in order to function.

Lastly, one of the team members of the project also reported that an air door was added to the plant in order to integrate wind power into the power supply, enabling the system to operate in winter when there is minimal sunshine.

The plant can supply 400,000 kWh of electricity per year, saving the equivalent of 100 tonnes of coal and 900 tonnes of water, compared with thermal power generation. When completed in 2013, the plant will cover an area of 277 hectares and its total generation capacity will reach 27.5 MW.

Supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Government, the project was co-designed and -developed by Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology (IMUST) and the Technical University of Madrid, Spain.

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