I See through Everything

Soon, the managers of the various business units and departments began to voice their opinions one after another.

Jiang Miao instructed them to implement the new electricity schedule as soon as they returned to their departments. All non-essential power consumption was to be moved to the daytime, leaving only what was absolutely necessary for the night.

Fortunately, places like the farms were relatively easy to adjust. Activities like irrigation and sprinkling could all be rescheduled to the daytime.

Of course, these weren’t random adjustments. For example, irrigation absolutely could not be done at noon during the summer, or the soil would turn into a sauna. It had to be scheduled for the morning and evening.

The feed mill’s cold storage warehouses had to be maintained twenty-four hours a day.

The smart greenhouses also required a certain amount of electricity at night.

The indoor eel farm also needed to maintain a certain level of power usage at night.

However, after the adjustments, 80% of the company’s electricity consumption was concentrated in the daytime, with the remaining 20% at night. Furthermore, there were several lead-carbon battery rooms that could support power needs during the evening.

Currently, the Salt Town Farm was equipped with two lead-carbon battery rooms. Each room contained 1,000 standard one-cubic-meter lead-carbon batteries, for a total of 1,000 cubic meters of batteries per room. Their maximum storage capacity was 35,000 kWh, meaning the two rooms combined could hold 70,000 kWh.

The decision to use lead-carbon batteries was primarily for safety.

After all, lithium batteries were too dangerous. Even if Jiang Miao didn’t have to worry about someone hacking a chip to cause an explosion, lithium batteries themselves were inherently unstable.

This was especially true for such a large-scale battery storage room. If lithium batteries were used, a spontaneous combustion in just a few battery packs could spread rapidly, potentially leading to the destruction of the entire facility.

In addition, lithium batteries were very expensive, with their only advantage being their light weight.

For a stationary battery room like this, built on land that wasn’t prime real estate like in a major city, the cheaper and more stable lead-carbon batteries were the superior choice.

As for the issue of lead-carbon batteries having reduced storage efficiency at low temperatures, that was hardly a concern for Magong Town, located in the Lingnan Region.

The lifespan of lead-carbon batteries wasn’t a major worry either. Their service life could be extended by replacing the sulfuric acid. Alternatively, the old batteries could be sold directly to lead-carbon battery manufacturers for a one-for-one exchange with new ones.

This solution—using lead-carbon batteries for a solar power generation storage station—was also state-of-the-art.

Lead-carbon batteries were safer than traditional lead-acid batteries, had a longer lifespan, could store energy for longer periods, were cheaper, and were more environmentally friendly. Plus, there was government policy support for them.

...

「Time flew by.」

Another typhoon brushed past Shanmei.

September 23rd, the Autumnal Equinox.

After more than a month of construction, one-third of the 350-mu solar panel array at the Salt Town Farm had been installed, and one of the lead-carbon battery rooms was also complete.

However, work had been halted for over a week because a typhoon was expected to make landfall nearby.

The section of solar panels that was already installed could now supply power to the facilities.

The more than 100 mu of installed solar panels could generate nearly 40,000 kWh of electricity during the day. Through angle adjustments of the solar panels, a peak shaving system, and the large lead-carbon battery room, a stable daytime power supply was guaranteed.

To adapt to this new model of self-generating power during the day and using the grid at night, the company had begun making adjustments in mid-August and had now preliminarily adapted to the new power consumption pattern.

Now, the company basically no longer needed to pay electricity bills.

Moreover, it also supplied low-cost electricity to the company’s employee dormitories. The company only charged for the cost, at a rate of 0.5 yuan per kWh.

Of course, this power supply was limited to Hailufeng Company’s own employee dormitories. If employees lived in their own homes, there was nothing the company could do.

After all, residential electricity supply was the business of the power grid. Private enterprises were not qualified to sell electricity to ordinary residents. Supplying power to employee dormitories was a loophole that could only be exploited with a reasonable excuse.

Essentially, the employee dormitories were part of the company’s property. Providing accommodation to employees was a form of leasing. In this process, charging for electricity consumption was a reasonable and legal matter.

And Jiang Miao didn’t want to create conflict with the power grid.

To be precise, the two parties were currently cooperating.

After a month of preliminary surveys, Jianfang Company’s project feasibility study team had completed the geological exploration for the Bamboo Mountain pumped-storage reservoir and the Baisha Fish Farm.

Han Zhendong discovered that the data Jiang Miao had provided on the sediment and rock strata was extremely accurate, which greatly shortened the timeline for the feasibility study.

The Baisha Fu seabed extended for about 150 meters from the shore, with an average water depth of 5 to 10 meters. The seabed’s sediment layer was 13 to 22 meters thick. Below the sediment lay a very hard basalt stratum, which was ideal for a foundation.

This way, during construction, after enclosing the area with dikes, they could simply use sand dredging to achieve the 30-meter depth required for the fish farm. There would be no need to blast too much of the bedrock below.

As for the rock layer at the Bamboo Mountain Reservoir, after clearing away 5 to 10 meters of soil and rubble, there was also a large expanse of basalt bedrock underneath. They would only need to seal a few locations where underground springs were present with concrete, and the problem of seawater leakage from the reservoir would be perfectly solved.

Just as Jianfang Company was tailoring the project feasibility report for Hailufeng Company and preparing to apply for the various permits...

...the head of the Nandian Shantou Branch came calling.