In Binzhou, East China's Shandong province, Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group operates an 8‑million‑metric‑ton alumina production base. To reduce carbon emissions, the company has built a 2-gigawatt fishery‑solar hybrid project on 45,000 mu (3,000 hectares) of saline‑alkali land. The third phase was connected to the grid on April 27, increasing the annual solar power generation capacity to 1.77 billion kilowatt-hours.

However, alumina production requires continuous heat and steam, not just electricity. Since solar power is intermittent, Weiqiao built a 500 megawatts/2,000 megawatt-hours molten salt energy storage center, the largest of its kind in China. Using a nitrate salt mixture, it stores excess solar energy as heat. The stored heat then produces stable industrial steam for the production line, achieving 87 percent round-trip efficiency.

The facility now supplies over 1.02 million tons of green steam annually, saving 110,000 tons of standard coal and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 286,000 tons each year. Alumina from the plant meets top energy efficiency standards, and customers are increasingly willing to pay a premium for low-carbon products.

Shandong produces more than a fifth of the world's alumina. Weiqiao's integrated model – solar‑fish farming, molten salt storage, and clean steam – offers a replicable blueprint for decarbonizing heavy industries worldwide.

The third phase of Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group's fishery‑solar hybrid project is connected to the grid in April. [Photo/Dazhong News]