I See through Everything

After all, there were no farmlands or orchards nearby, so they could directly pump seawater.

The primary purpose of investing in this pumped-storage reservoir was to store the electricity generated by the solar panels.

Once the solar panels currently being installed at the Salt Town Farm were all in place, they would cover an area of 350 mu. On a sunny day, this massive array could generate 120,000 to 140,000 kWh.

This was an enormous amount of power for the Hailufeng Company, far more than its current industries could consume.

Moreover, the Hailufeng Company’s other properties had significant amounts of open space suitable for solar panels as well. A rough calculation put the total usable area at over a thousand mu.

This included the roofs of 150 mu of high-standard smart greenhouses, 200 mu of indoor farms, and 120 mu of the experimental zone. The feed factory, fish ball factory, and the indoor Egyptian Fish farm combined added another 300 mu or so.

In addition, the new office building and the Dongtian real estate project offered another 300 mu of usable space.

The ancillary facilities area for the Yandun Mountain Durian Plantation also had 200 mu of usable space.

In total, this amounted to 1270 mu.

If all this area were covered with solar panels, it could generate nearly 550,000 kWh of electricity per day.

However, solar power generation had one major problem: its inability to provide a stable supply. For factories in particular, this instability was a fatal flaw.

They call photovoltaic power "junk electricity," and not without reason.

Moreover, the approval process for connecting solar projects to the national grid was extremely strict, and the price for selling electricity back wasn’t high.

After all, China had launched a huge number of photovoltaic and wind power projects over the past decade. But these two so-called "green, environmentally friendly energy sources" were known as "junk electricity" within the industry precisely because of their unstable output.

The power grid requires a stable supply, not the seemingly massive yet wildly fluctuating output of solar and wind. This led the grid operators to gradually tighten the approval process for connecting wind and solar projects, encouraging small and medium-sized developers to become self-sufficient.

As a result, the rate of electricity curtailment for wind and solar in the country was currently very high, simply because connecting to the grid had become increasingly difficult.

Jiang Miao had initially planned to invest in solar panels to improve the company’s energy self-sufficiency. It was only later that he realized he had overlooked a key problem: the instability of solar power.

After mulling it over, he landed on a brute-force solution: build his own pumped-storage reservoir. That way, he could generate his own power and use it himself.

Of course, before deciding to invest in the pumped-storage reservoir, Jiang Miao had surveyed the area around Magong Town. He’d also taken the opportunity to go sightseeing with Shuya for a few days.

During their sightseeing, he discovered that the coastal Bamboo Mountain was an ideal location.

The mountain valley had a considerable volume. With a dam around 50 meters high, the long, narrow valley could, at maximum capacity, hold 6 million cubic meters of seawater.

Releasing 6 million cubic meters of seawater from an altitude of 70 meters could theoretically generate 770,000 kWh of electricity.

Therefore, if this reservoir were built, it would not only serve as a giant battery for the power generated by the Hailufeng Company, but it would also have significant surplus storage capacity.

This capacity would be sufficient for the short term, but it was hard to say about the future.

After all, the "surplus" was calculated based on the Hailufeng Company’s current industrial footprint. As the company’s local operations continued to expand in the future, this reservoir’s capacity might prove insufficient.

In truth, coastal mountain ranges like this held significant potential for developing seawater pumped-storage reservoirs.

After all, being right by the sea eliminated any issues with water regulation. They could pump water in and release it whenever they pleased.

With reservoirs next to inland rivers or lakes, one couldn’t simply pump and release water at will. It wasn’t just a matter of power generation; one also had to consider agricultural irrigation, inland shipping, flood control, and drought relief.

This was also why many articles about pumped-storage reservoirs mentioned the difficulty of site selection.

Although seawater pumped-storage technology had clear advantages, it also presented several technical challenges: equipment corrosion, biofouling, seepage and leakage, and ensuring stable operation.

As for these problems, Jiang Miao could solve some of them.

As for equipment corrosion, that was something the equipment itself would have to withstand.

Biofouling, however, could be cleared periodically using physical methods, so that wasn’t a major issue.

Seawater seepage and leakage weren’t a concern either. Jiang Miao had checked the location of the Bamboo Mountain and Sea Reservoir with his appraisal panel and had seen that the surrounding rock strata were extremely thick, with very few underground fissures for water to penetrate.

Moreover, the reservoir was right on the coast, so there was no risk of seawater flooding farmland or orchards, or of polluting freshwater rivers.

As for stable operation, that really came down to management. As long as the schedules for pumping water to store energy and releasing it to generate power were planned rationally, the issue could be avoided.

...

The group climbed halfway up the mountain at the mouth of the valley.

The sea breeze carried a hot, briny gust.

The roar of waves crashing against the reefs echoed around them.

Jiang Miao, with his eight-pack abs, stood on a large boulder halfway up the mountain, not even flushed or out of breath.

Nearby, Han Zhendong was panting slightly. He smiled wryly and said, "HUFF... PUFF... General Manager Jiang, you’re in amazing shape. I used to do a lot of hiking and trekking back when I was in Xinan, but I’m not what I used to be."