you cannot experience the happiness of turning on the light if you have not gone deep into tibet;
you cannot feel the sweetness of hearty breath if you have not ascended to the plateau with an altitude of 5000m;
you cannot feel the warmness of home if you have not listened to the internal torment and silent sign;
you cannot experience the happiness of venture if you have not strived for dream and suffered from torment.
foreword:
zhang xi, who comes from nantong, jiangsu, spends his youth in the snowy plateau for seven years. he started from scratch with one old car all by himself, and now the company totally owns 48 employees and total assets of nearly 900 million yuan. in the seven years, the 12 projects he started, from geothermal power generation to photovoltaic power generation and to wind power generation, have created multiple no.1 in the world, including “world’s highest yangbajain geothermal power generation”, “world’s highest yangbajain photovoltaic power generation”, “world’s highest low wind speed and low density nagqu wind power farm” and “world’s highest ali 10mw micro-grid photovoltaic power station”, filled several domestic blanks and helped tibet autonomous region government to solve the power supply for the 170,000 households, totally 680,000 non-electricity population. from nantong to beijing then to tibet, zhang approaches the dream nearer while leaving his home farther.
dare to pioneer – creating the upgrade of china geothermal technology
the green mountain records the immortal performance of longyuan.
the flowing river spreads the passion for dedication of longyuan.
the qinghai-tibet plateau, known as the roof of the world, has adverse natural environment and been governed by feudal serfdom for a long time. when most of areas in the earth have enjoyed the modern life with lights and phones, tibet still stays at the time of oil lamp. in 1951 when tibet was peacefully liberated, there was no electricity in the whole region. people there can only depend on pine oil lamps and butter lamps. and now, as of the end of 2013, the total installed capacity in tibet reached 1.1 million kw and bid farewell to the non-electricity time of tibet.
the electricity becomes the “light of plateau” lightening tibet, becomes the wings of extensive farmers and herdsmen to make fortune, and promotes the economic development as well as civilization and improvement of the society in tibet;
the economic and social development in tibet can only be illusion without electricity; the modern civilization of tibet might not exist without electricity.
the electricity is the lifeline of economy in tibet and the lamp lightening the thoughts of herdsmen.
who create the wings for the economic and social development of tibet?
they are the electrical power and longyuan employees who are struggling against the wind and snow in the plateau!
zhang xi is the most outstanding one among the numerous electrical power employees!
in 2007, zhang xi had excellent working environment and favorable payment when he worked in jiangsu nantong tianshenggang industry group, and zhang’s family lived happily. however, he volunteered to pioneer in tibet. with a graduate’s degree, zhang xi’s development prospect in the unit is favorable. besides, he can stay with his wife and child. therefore, his decision puzzled people around. he said calmly that “although i’m almost 40, as long as the company needs me, i’m willing to go to the place with adverse conditions.”
in that year, zhang xi went to yangbajain, which is nearly 4300m higher than nantong, jiangsu to take charge of yangbajain twin screw expansion engine geothermal power generation demonstration project construction and preparation for longyuan tibet new energy co., ltd. since then, his youth and even the entire life have integrated into the ancient and mystical snowy plateau.
when he just started working in tibet, zhang xi knew nothing about the environment. except enduring the severe headache caused by high altitude anoxia, more importantly, he also needed to solve the approval of project, engineering design, construction implementation and grid power generation…
in that way, zhang himself drove the old car to shuttle among national development and reform commission, environmental protection bureau, power company and design company every day to repeatedly demonstrate, revise, communicate, coordinate and correspond to all problems. finally, he solved a series of problems such as project approval, engineering design and construction unit implementation. however, new problems came one after another…
in the vast tibet plateau, the project is difficult, and the construction is even harder.
adverse natural environment. with variable climates, thin air, extreme cold and anoxia, the area with an altitude of above 4000m is called as the “restricted area for life” by biologists. yangbajain geothermal field in tibet locates at an area above 4300m, and the frost period lasts from november this year till april the next year when severe weather, such as hail, gale, rain and snow, occurs regularly. it may be said “four seasons in one day”. the typical high altitude climate conditions bring severe experiences for project construction.
the difficulty of construction in tibet lies in the lack of supplies. tibet is an under-developed area. almost all machined parts and instruments must be transported from mainland china. the transportation cost is expensive and the construction period is uncontrollable.
the difficulty of construction in tibet lies in special environment and uncontrollable technology. due to the environmental factors of thin air and large temperature difference between seasons, and day and night, the twin screw engines crack, the sealing elements of some valves and assembly break, and engines and some auxiliary motors enable the temperature to rise excessively during the debugging and test run of the unit. the unit, from engine to auxiliary equipment and spare parts, endures severe experiences.
“pounded on all sides”, zhang xi is too busy to care about the symptom of dizziness and nausea caused by serious altitude stress. he took a dozen of oxygen bags and cold medicines prescribed by the doctor to station at the construction site, and discussed programs with the construction unit, coordinated the equipments, seized the construction period to maximally reduce the impact of weather on construction schedule.
after having overcome various difficulties and undergone many experiences, zhang calmed down facing the special environment and climates in tibet. since it is the normal state of life, just despise it and conquer it. the sentence most commonly said by zhang xi is that “never let others lead you, but let others follow you.”
zhang spent the new year’s day of 2009 in the workshop of lanzhou engine factory.
zhang, together with the technicians and production personnel of the manufacturer, jointly discussed problems, solved problems, reselected, redesigned and manufactured the generator and accessories to lay firm foundation for the new unit in the application for geothermal power generation and accumulated a large amount of precious experiences and data.
on aug 6, 2009, the 1000kw twin screw expansion engine geothermal power generation unit of yangbajain geothermal demonstration project phase i was put into operation. the successful operation of the unit not only filled the blank of china guodian corporation in geothermal generation field, but also accumulated previous technical experiences in new geothermal generation technology research and commercial application. it became the new geothermal power generation technology firstly developed and applied in china and even the world, and enabled the geothermal power generation technology level with our own intellectual property right to reach the world leading rank.
a party member is a model. it is under the leadership of the outstanding party members like zhang xi, many longyuan employees view the factory as home and are willing to be the “bridge” to dedicate their youth, sweat and warm blood silently.
pursue daylight in plateau – realizing the zero breakthrough of photovoltaic power generation in tibet
“we lack oxygen but we cannot lack spirit”!
it is the spirit of never admitting defect and promise is debt of zhang xi that enables him to win the trust and approval of various government departments of the tibet autonomous region. hence, he stood firm in tibet and got the first 10mw grid photovoltaic project in tibet.
however, it is not an easy thing to construct such a large scale photovoltaic power station in 4300m-high yangbajain. a foreign expert asserted that: constructing power station in an area higher than 4000m equals to building tomb for oneself. it is not sensational. according to the measurement of scientists, the ancient high land with an average altitude of 4000m has only half of the oxygen content compared to the sea level, which means any machine would reduce power by 40% here. the average temperature of the entire plateau is below 0, but the ultraviolet intensity is 6 folds than that in the mainland. besides, averagely there are 120 days of gale larger than level 8 and eight months of rain, snow and hails every year…
things shall be done by people, and people depend on thoughts.
as long as you work hard and persist, the natural moat may become the thoroughfare.
the year 2010 is the most unforgettable year in the memory of zhang xi, and the same year is the most stressed year for his son thousands miles away who faced the college entrance examination. moreover, this year is the first year that zhang xi led the company to start constructing station. he originally planned to take a leave to encourage his son before the college entrance examination, but ended up to call his son to cheer him up through the phone.
in 2010, the solar cell panel was in shortest supply. through three biddings and three losses, the solar cell panels of many manufacturers have been subscribed by foreign manufacturers before leaving factory. the supply to yangbajain 10mw photovoltaic power station was postponed for 3 months. and it is unknown whether products may be supplied sustainably. the construction schedule was impacted seriously.
the harder the conditions are, the better the will can be tempered; the worse the environment is, the better the dedication passion can be motivated.
where necessary, zhang xi serves not only as manager zhang, but also serves as a worker and transportation director.
in case of lack of equipment and no resource, zhang xi brought some clothes for change to directly “work” in the battery cell panel supplier.
when working conditions are worse and transportation distance is far, he directly monitored and mastered the cell phone number of each driver, understood the transportation process in each day, followed in real time, took strict precautions and prevented the goods from being “retained” on the way.
in this way, he rushed for goods and inverted schedule. when all people believed the scheduled completion was impossible, zhang xi finished the target of each node as scheduled through the persevering insistence and succeeded in grid connection on dec 28, 2010.
yangbajain 10mw photovoltaic power station, which daily electric energy production is 55,000 kwh, is the first photovoltaic project constructed and put into operation in tibet. the successful operation of yangbajain 10mw photovoltaic power station accumulated experiences for the construction and operation of plateau photovoltaic power station, and created larger economic benefits. it was highly praised by the tibet autonomous region government.
on march 31, 2011, the phase i photovoltaic power station was completed. on the kick-off ceremony of phase ii project, such a scene was unforgettable: among the crowd, the herdsmen who attended the ceremony spontaneously highly held the national flag in orderly rows. at that moment, the five-starred red flag seemed more striking and beautiful than ever…
on april 30, 2012, the yangbajain phase ii 20mw photovoltaic power station was put into operation, and the capacity of the photovoltaic power station with the highest altitude was increased to 30mw. longyuan power became the leading enterprise of new energy field in tibet, and the “longyuan” flag flies high in tibet.
such stories are too many to tell.
the spring rain can cultivate spirits and severity can strengthen the characteristics. the supreme ideal and firm belief supports the steel-like will of zhang xi, and builds the immortal monuments in the history of plateau new energy.
help to benefit people – lightening home in non-electricity area
when night falls, all streets have bright lights, flicking neon and splendid lamps. such situations are commonly seen in mainland china, but seem strange for residents in remote tibetan farming and stockbreeding areas. most of those non-electricity residents live in the cold remote mountain areas which are lack of oxygen and have inconvenient transportation and scattered residents. due to difficult grid coverage and high power transmission cost, it is not easy to solve the problem depending on the large power grid extension. therefore, only opening a new way can help the farmers and herdsmen in former revolutionary base areas to use electricity earlier.
ali is such a typical area. it locates in border area over 2000km away from lhasa, where kong fansen, the cadre sent to support tibet, has struggled. in less than two years when kong served as the secretary of ali prefectural party committee, he almost went around the 106 towns in the entire region with a total journey of 80,000km. his footsteps left all over the snowy plateau. zhang xi is touched by the story of kong fansen, which entourages him and stimulates him to gain achievements here.
because of being located in remote area, the electricity supply in ali cannot connect to the main power grid of tibet. the small hydropower stations and diesel generators are always used to generate electricity, and the supply is unstable. the power is off before local residents can finish watching the news broadcast. in the meantime, the transportation distance of diesel is far, and the generation cost is as high as 7yuan/kwh, which seriously impacts the development of local economy and also causes great pollution to the environment. however, ali is one of areas with most abundant solar energy resources in the world. the annual average sunshine duration is as long as 3370 hours, and the conditions in utilization of solar power generation are advantaged.
therefore, it is undoubtedly the most economical and practical programs to provide clean and distributed energy supply such as solar power and wind power. the “photovoltaic user system”, “photovoltaic small off-grid power stations” and “small wind farm field” become the optimal choices.
in tibet, such areas are a lot. the extensive area is remote with worse environment and rare people, but in great demand of electricity.
according to the arrangement of the central government, the tibet autonomous region plans to basically solve the electricity for farmers and herdsmen in 2013, fill leaks in 2014 and realize overall electricity coverage for farmers and herdsmen by 2015.
according to the former experiences, due to substandard early construction, dragged follow-up maintenance, as well as the special environment and climates, many facilities of user system become idle soon. the key point that tibet autonomous region government considered is to find an enterprise with technical and capital strength. at that time, longyuan tibet company, which has operated with faith and actively performed social responsibilities, is attracted by ding yexian, the deputy chairmen in charge of electrical power in tibet autonomous region. through fierce competition and assessment by multiple parties, longyuan power is finally confirmed as the entity of photovoltaic project in non-electricity area in tibet. zhang xi understood that it is not only the trust of local government to longyuan, but also the responsibility of longyuan employees. he made determination to complete it well.
the non-electricity areas are the hardest and remotest areas. most photovoltaic power stations in non-electricity areas are over 600km far from lhasa, the capital of tibet. in order to construct the photovoltaic projects in non-electricity area, and live up to the trust of autonomous region government as well as farmers and herdsmen, zhang xi inspected and accepted the construction by himself to overturn the jerry-built projects, check the equipment performance and urge the progress without enduring the flaws of any project. local herdsmen were touched by zhang xi’s dedication and voluntarily joined in the project construction to help the project whatever they can.
in biru and baqing of nagqu, luolong and dingqing of changdu, zhongba and dingri of shigatse, pulan and cuoqin of ali, as well as langxian county and chayu of nyingchi, his footsteps are left at each construction site.
when there is no place to have meal on the way, he and the entourage swallowed the solid food and drunk mineral water.
they slept in the time-limited power supply hotel in small town at the altitude over 4000m where they can hear their rapid heartbeats in the silent night.
the car bumped on the mountain road and was stained with mud everywhere. when the collapse and debris flow were both encountered, it took at least 10 days to visit the photovoltaic power stations in one region. after visiting all regions, the red color in his cheeks was darken. for those who are unfamiliar with him, he is already a typical tibetan.
however, wherever he went, the herdsmen hang hada, which means the highest courtesy, on his necks and all over the car he takes.
in that way, he, with the spirit as ants gnaw a bone, work steadily to lay firm foundation, win trusts of herdsmen and achieve impressive achievements.
in the end of 2013, the guodian longyuan ali 10mw micro-grid photovoltaic power station, which is the first isolated grid power station in china with the highest altitude and largest construction difficulty in the world, was fully put into operation, and hence ali became “bright” from “dark”. now, this station has become the main power source in ali area, realized the maximal access and utilization of renewable energy sources, and played the role of demonstration for the renewable energy utilization in china. it saves about 70 million yuan for diesel cost of local area every year, and has made great contribution to the social and economical development and natural protection of ali. meanwhile, during the project construction period, zhang xi and his colleagues have forged profound friendship with local minority herdsmen, who deem zhang xi as their relatives and intimately call him “tashi” (means luck).
as of the end of 2013, longyuan tibet company has established 62 off-grid power stations, and released household using system about 180,000 sets with a total capacity of 50,000kw; solved the electricity problems for 170,000 households and nearly 800,000 residents, including 1455 village public places, 17 primary schools, 196 teaching schools, 666 temples, 143 temple management committee and 64 track sections (work areas).
so far, the solar photovoltaic household using system in tibet autonomous region has basically finished installation, which means about 690,000 people in 1630 administrative villages in the whole region may use electricity. the non-electricity population electricity problem of the entire region has been solved basically, and they thoroughly bid farewell to the life when cook by burning cow dung and light the oil lamp at night.
the reasonable utilization of solar energy resources suitable for local conditions not only enables extensive herdsmen not to live under control of time and light any longer, but also saves a large amount of vegetation every year which were used as fuels before so as to greatly protect the fragile local ecology.
the room lamps are on, and the buttered tea can be made whenever you want to drink. the refrigerator changes the life quality of herdsmen and tv enables them to know the splendid world outside the mountain.
overcome hardships and difficulties – pursuing the wind in snowy plateau
towering mountains, unbroken snowy world, and boundless prairie…
the ancient and mysterious tibet has been quiet and still for thousands of years. with an average altitude of over 4000m, it is called as “the third pole” besides the south pole and north pole. as the important base for energy strategic reserve and the base for energy of west-east power transmission in china, its energy resources, such as hydropower, geothermal energy, solar energy and wind energy, are abundant with vast potential for development.
with the development of society and economy in tibet, the electricity lack of middle-tibet power grid becomes more prominent. according to load prediction and power source installation arrangement, during “the 12th five-year plan” to “the 13th five-year plan”, the middle-tibet power grid installation gap will still be 200 – 300 mw, and the electricity volume gas is over 400 million kw. the lack of electricity has impacted on the economic and social rapid development and become the main bottleneck restricting the economic and social development in tibet.
longyuan power is the new energy enterprise with the largest wind power installation capacity in asia; however, its installation in tibet is zero.
the orientation and target of zhang xi and every employee of longyuan tibet company is to turn the longyuan power wtg in the roof of the world, and provide clean energy for tibetan people.
for the sustainable development of the company in future, they have to strengthen the early work of the project and increase the resource reserve. zhang xi took the team to investigate projects in ali, nagqu and shigatse where the environment is extremely severe for several times.
in august 2010, they contacted sino energy corporation to build one 80m-high anemometer tower respectively near the qinghai-tibet highway in ali, nagqu and anduo county. meanwhile, they actively communicated and coordinated with tibet reform and development commission, and submitted the proposal of nagqu high altitude wind power farm project.
on march 19, 2012, this project obtained the “permit” from national energy administration.
in april 2012, when the mainland was warm and full of flowers, nagqu was still snowy. the icy road surfaces were full of hidden dangers. the early design and micro site selection started under such climate conditions.
the new start and new journey surely faced new tests. any situation may happen under such climate environment. it is hard to construct in plateau, and even harder to construct wind power projects in nagqu.
the first is the land problem of the wind power project. because the animal husbandry in nagqu is developed and abound in “treasure of plateau” - worm grass, local farmers and herdsmen could not understand and support the various project constructions, and made many difficulties for the project land acquisition.
the second is the project delivery project. due to the weak middle-tibet power grid, the grid company was cautious to access new energy, and proposed many problems and requirements for “t” connection program while longyuan tibet company responded and solved actively.
next, in the plateau, the machine power is low, faults are frequent, conditions are limited and construction unit has no standby construction machineries. when the equipment is broken, it shall be solved by the unwieldy ways. if the pumper broke down, it would be replaced by crane. because the foundation grouting cannot be interrupted, one foundation can be grouted for two days and a night. when the first foundation finished grouting, the tough men could not help crying.
also there is the altitude stress of construction workers. each construction unit changed batches of workers one after another. many workers returned to the construction site as soon as the transfusion was finished, and many others worked while carrying the oxygen bag. it is the group of cute wind power workers who are sweating and achieving the dream of pursuing wind.
as tang sanzang encountered totally eighty one difficulties before he finally got the real buddhist scripture, in order to achieve the goal, zhang xi and his team met more difficulties.
the wind power plateau hoisting problem, wind power equipment long-distance transportation problem, elevator installation in tower… behind each one there is a touching story with twists and turns, and behind each story there are their bitterness, insistence and happiness.
through the unremitting endeavors of zhang xi and his team, in august 2012, five tremendous wtgs were finally set up on the 4700m-high plateau, which realized the breakthrough of “zero” wind power projects in tibet autonomous region, and also created the record of the highest world’s wind power project. it is of great strategic significance and influence to promote the rapid economic development of nagqu.
among the dozens of enterprises carrying out new energy project construction in tibet, longyuan tibet company is no. 1 in various aspects:
it constructed and put longyuan yangbajain 10mw photovoltaic power station, the first photovoltaic power station in tibet, into production;
the power generation capacity in tibet ranks the first;
the photovoltaic project share in tibet is the first, accounting for over 25%;
it is the first enterprise to gain the “permit” of wind power development in tibet.
during the “12th five year plan”, longyuan tibet company will put 200,000kw solar power generation project, 50,000kw wind power project, and 50,000kw geothermal power generation project into production in tibet.
challenge himself –sparkling ordinary days
in the snowy plateau, such touching stories happened every day.
zhang xi still insists on the repeated work. he appears where the construction site of longyuan power locates. what is different is that the former handsome man from the south has changed to a brown plateau “kamba”.
in his eyes, seven years are only a short span, while as the new energy projects are constructed and put into operation, and the green power flows to households, his life becomes splendid and leaves amazing glory. for his firm and indomitable spirit and pursuit to new energy career, the tibetan people friendly call him “tashi” (means luck).
it is not because zhang xi does not know the hardships, but he knows clearly that his hardship can bring power guarantee, the prosperity and development of economy and society in tibet, the realization of his dream and transcendence of life. such hardships are worthy experiencing!
hardship is no big deal for zhang xi. what makes him regrettable is that he cannot take care of his sick father, and cannot witness the growth of his son. like us, after all, zhang xi is a person who has parents to support and wife and son to take care.
in the seven years, zhang xi has never taken the full rest of three months for each year. every year, he worked for more than 330 days. his father is unable to walk freely, but he has no time to look after him due to the busy work, so he has to buy a wheelchair on line; the holiday of his wife for visiting him in tibet is used by him to train employees for file management. in order to enable other employees to return home in holidays, he spent several spring festivals in lhasa with his family in the seven years. it is not because he does not know how to enjoy life, and not because he does not want to enjoy family relationship, but he knows what kind of life he really wants.
cooking, singing and photography are the entertainments in his leisure time, but the development of new energy is the theme of his life. he said that “i wish i am the pride of my father and model of my son. i wish my son can understand through my hard work that the age of 40 is not too late for venture. it is never too late to challenge yourself and break through yourself.”
day after day and year after year, ordinary days go splendidly and plain times shine the glory of ideals!
the attitude of working under all climate conditions, deeming the construction site as home and actively facing difficulties and challenges is the foundation for the practical work of zhang xi; love of life and new energy industry is his pursuit.
integrity is the behavior norm for him.
practical work is the foundation for him to realize the dream.
as one drop of water can reflect the glory of the sun and one thing can reflect the characteristic and feeling of one person, the excellent team of longyuan workers reflects the spirit of the times – dedication and devotion.
longyuan power, subordinated to china guodian corporation, has thrived for the new energy industry centered at wind power and photovoltaic power for years as the pioneer of the new energy industry, and gradually increased the investment especially in areas such as inner mongolia, xinjiang, gansu, qinghai and tibet where there are abundant resources but undeveloped economy and provided powerful guarantee for the development of local economy. so far, the 126 operating wind farms, 6 photovoltaic projects of longyuan power spreading all over 22 provinces (municipality, region) have made tremendous contribution to power supply problem for remote areas, and become the practitioner promoting the great project of “household electricity” in china.
in every year, hundreds of longyuan workers leave their hometown and their wives and children to go to the production front line in remote areas, and devote their youth and power to the new energy career; every day each one creates the extraordinary performance in ordinary posts. it is the many “zhang xi” who created the glory of longyuan power today.
the supreme ideal and firm belief create the powerful spirit backbone of endless life and struggle for longyuan workers; creates the super perseverance and courage of longyuan workers. before ideal and belief, any larger difficulty is nothing for longyuan workers and they are willing to sacrifice as much as possible.
that is because they know electrical power is the “lifeline” to guarantee the economic and social development, and they will be the flashing “flagstones” among numerical longyuan workers.
the enterprise has discussed with zhang xi for several times and tried to transfer him to the area with better conditions. he said, “just transfer other cadres. i want to work here for another five years. i’m a party member and have to stay in qinghai and tibet plateau.”
zhang said, “on the way to ali, i am most impressed by kailash, the 6638m altitude mountain. after viewing the magnificent kailash mountain, i know why the people with firm belief measure the holy land in their heart by the simplest and most direct way – the body. someone said only people who value belief more important than life will make such selection and will go forward toward the heaven of soul regardless of physical and mental tortures.
i also know why i still select to struggle in plateau when i’m almost 50 years old – all for the belief in my heart. i select tibet because hardships are the best way to harden the life; i dedicate myself to tibet, because the honor of mission is enough to make me pride for all my life”!
this is the guodian worker and longyuan worker struggling in the ten thousand snowy plateau line – zhang xi, the general manager of longyuan tibet company!