China has launched a remarkable new solar energy project that uses sunlight and molten salt to generate electricity. The project is located in Dunhuang, a city in China’s Gansu province, and it features two impressive towers surrounded by around 12,000 large mirrors. These mirrors reflect and concentrate the sun’s rays onto the top of the towers, where the real magic happens.
At the top, the sunlight heats molten salt to a temperature of 565 degrees Celsius. That heat is then used to create steam, which powers turbines and produces electricity. What makes this technology even more special is that the molten salt can store energy for up to 11 hours. This means the plant can keep generating electricity even after the sun goes down.
The solar towers are expected to produce about 390 gigawatt-hours of electricity every year. They will also help reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 350,000 tons annually. In a major milestone, Dunhuang relied entirely on renewable energy for 247 days in 2024.
This project is being seen as a big achievement for China’s clean energy policy. A video of the twin towers reflecting sunlight has also gone viral, showing the beauty and brilliance of this green energy breakthrough.
🇨🇳 These are China's Twin Solar Towers in Dunhuang.
The molten salt at the top stores heat beamed by reflective panels to power a turbine to produce energy.
They produce enough energy to power 80.000 homes. pic.twitter.com/f8Jes725iC
— Dott. Orikron 🇵🇹 (@orikron) August 2, 2025
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