China Kaiquan Complete Pump System Safeguards Gansu Yumen Pumped Storage Power Station

Located in Yumen, Gansu Province — in the western part of the Hexi Corridor, the core area of the Jiuquan 10‑GW wind power base — the Yumen Pumped Storage Power Station is a key national project during the 14th Five‑Year Plan period. The site is characterized by strong winds, heavy sandstorms, and extreme temperature variations.

The power station has a total installed capacity of 1,200 MW, with an designed annual power generation of 1.528 billion kWh, a rated head of 425 meters, and a service life of 100 years. It is not only the first pumped storage power station of the State Grid in Gansu Province but also a benchmark project for large‑scale, high‑altitude pumped storage in China, playing a critical role in renewable energy integration and grid peak‑shaving and frequency‑regulation in the northwest region.

In January 2025, Kaiquan won the bid for the complete electromechanical equipment package, becoming the sole supplier of the pump system. This is not a simple equipment supply contract, but a full‑chain delivery covering manufacturing, installation, commissioning, and operation‑and‑maintenance support.

The project site is located in a high‑altitude desert zone, with winter lows of -30°C and summer highs of 40°C, along with sandstorms and thin oxygen levels. Under such harsh conditions, conventional pump units are prone to cavitation, efficiency degradation, and difficulty in low‑temperature startup.

All pump units in the two groups are manufactured with high‑cold‑resistant, anti‑freezing, corrosion‑resistant, and wear‑resistant special materials. Key components have undergone high‑altitude strengthening treatment to ensure round‑the‑clock stable operation under extreme temperature variations (from -30°C to 40°C) and in sandy environments.

The efficiency data significantly exceeds industry standards. The net positive suction head (NPSH) is precisely controlled at 5.3 m and 5.2 m, completely eliminating cavitation erosion and efficiency degradation at the source.

With a designed service life of 100 years for the power station, the pump system is required to offer long‑term, continuous, and reliable operation. Kaiquan adopted a modular custom design, featuring low vibration, leak‑free operation, and an integrated intelligent control system. This enables fully automatic regulation and remote operation and maintenance, seamlessly interfacing with the power station’s monitoring system and the grid dispatch system.

The project adopts a one‑stop service model covering “equipment manufacturing + installation and commissioning + operation and maintenance assurance.” As a single‑source service provider, Kaiquan is responsible for the entire process — from equipment production to on‑site construction, commissioning, and maintenance. Batch delivery and synchronized commissioning precisely match the construction schedule, significantly reducing coordination time and avoiding the common industry pain point of poor cooperation among multiple suppliers.