Yesterday's achievements, all for you and me - A record of the Xiping Pingzhangxiang Suoshan Forest Complementary Photovoltaic Power Station Project

The 150-megawatt Xinping Pingzhang Township Suoshan Lin Guang complementary photovoltaic power station project (EPC project), constructed by the Eleventh Engineering Project Department, involves the construction of two sections: the C1 photovoltaic array area, the C2 substation auxiliary project, and the power collection line. After completion, the project will be of great significance in promoting green and low-carbon transformation, supporting high-quality economic and social development in the local area, and optimizing the regional energy structure. This project not only fills the company's gap in the photovoltaic field but also represents a vivid practice of the company's efforts to achieve the "dual carbon" goals and promote rural revitalization.

During the project construction, all employees of the project department, with the determination of "never returning until Loulan is broken", united as one, worked together, and overcame difficulties. They fully demonstrated the spirit of hard work and perseverance, continuously breaking through key bottlenecks, refining construction plans, and focusing on defect rectification to fully promote project construction. On March 6, 2024, the project successfully received electricity and was smoothly connected to the grid, marking a new breakthrough for the company in the development of the new energy market and laying a solid foundation for future photovoltaic projects.

Braving the Wind and Rain, Forging Ahead

The project is located in Pingzhang Township, Xinping County, Yuxi City, in the primitive Ailao Mountains. The area has a long rainy season, steep terrain, and harsh climate. In the initial stages of the project, there was a shortage of personnel, so the project department borrowed skilled surveying and construction personnel from the industrial worker center and experienced construction management personnel from other projects, forming a young team. On winter mornings, before the first rays of sunlight pierced through the mist, they were already on their way to the construction site. The mountain roads were rugged, and every step was challenging, but they never retreated. Many times, due to heavy rain and mudslides, they were trapped halfway and had to remove rocks in the heavy rain to keep the roads open. Even in the face of strong winds and heavy rain, they never missed a single daily pre-shift or post-shift meeting. They moved from one mountaintop to another, following up on construction progress, ensuring material supply, and coordinating road excavation issues. After a busy day, they would immediately start compiling daily construction logs and data and arrange the next day's construction tasks. Every time they returned to the project department after work, covered in dust and mud, I couldn't help but ask, "Did you guys fall into a mud puddle?" They would just smile and say, "It'll be fine after a wash."

In July and August, it was the height of summer, but at the foot of the Ailao Mountains, whenever a cold wind and fog came, the construction workers had to tighten their winter clothes. By noon, as the sun rose, sweat soaked their backs, leaving streaks of salt-white marks. Their work shoes were worn out from day-to-day travel, the anti-slip texture on the soles worn away, and the various holes and hardened mud on the uppers were like medals of time, recording the trajectory of every drop of sweat.

On the project front line, the winding hairpin bends left a particularly deep impression on me. Even "experienced drivers" had to slow down. This difficult mountain road was their daily commute. Sometimes, during breaks, they would invite me to ride in their pickup truck to the top of the mountain to enjoy the scenery. Sitting in the bumpy car, all I could see were cliffs and winding roads, but their eyes seemed to penetrate everything, seeing the rows of snow-white photovoltaic array areas shrouded in mist. At that moment, I deeply felt the resilience and optimism of this group of young people in the face of difficult conditions.

Overcoming Difficulties, Breaking Through Layer by Layer

The project construction was fraught with difficulties. Most of the slopes on site reached 50°-70°, with a maximum slope of 80° in some areas. The increased difficulty of construction led to difficulties in bidding for downstream teams, and many construction teams withdrew after surveying the site, resulting in serious personnel loss and organizational difficulties. The workshop manager, under pressure from multiple parties, stayed at the project site, trying every means to mobilize all resources and coordinate multiple construction teams to enter the site, solving the problem of insufficient personnel. However, even so, the project still faced the problem that the photovoltaic panel transportation efficiency could not keep up with the installation speed. Therefore, the workshop manager decided to introduce freight trucks and self-dumping cranes in addition to using methods such as carrying on the back, carrying by horse, drones, and loaders, and increase investment in drones, loaders, and excavators to ensure the smooth progress of the project.

In terms of technology, due to the site conditions, some arrays in the photovoltaic area were changed from single-pillar to double-pillar, and the power collection lines were changed from flat legs to high and low legs. In addition, the project team also faced problems such as missing drawings, serious changes, and inverted processes. The technical leader led the team members to work day and night, repeatedly studying the drawings, not missing a single detail or problem, repeatedly verifying and confirming with the general contractor, repeatedly giving technical briefings to the on-site management personnel, strictly controlling each construction process, and carefully planning the location of each box transformer and sub-string, laying a solid foundation for subsequent construction.

During the rush work period, the schedule was tight and the tasks were heavy. In response, the Xinping project management personnel, together with the industrial worker center, repeatedly rushed to the front line, working diligently, seizing every second, and fighting a battle with a chart. In the initial stage of the substation construction, the project department adopted a two-shift work system to seize the construction period. On cold winter nights, they stayed in the container, covered with damp quilts, just to stand every shift; at 3 a.m., they used flashlights to supervise the team to complete each excavation and backfilling work to ensure the quality of the project; in heavy rain, they hid under the photovoltaic panels and continued to complete the wiring and laying of the inverters to ensure that the project could be completed as soon as possible...

On the eve of the Spring Festival, the workers went home for the New Year, and there were no teams working on site. With the grid connection imminent, the construction workers worked day and night to complete the laying and wiring of the 35kv prefabricated cabin control cables of the substation and the installation of the communication boxes of the box transformers in the photovoltaic area. They trekked through mountains and rivers to measure the open-circuit voltage and current, insulation resistance of each sub-string, and debug the communication function of each inverter, eliminating one fault after another. After overcoming numerous difficulties, they finally achieved the grid connection target task according to the schedule.

Going All Out, Living Up to the Mission

The remaining construction areas, arrays 49 and 53, have steep slopes, poor road conditions, and high construction difficulty. On June 4, after receiving the company's task to establish a "Party Pioneer Team" and a "Youth Assault Team," the assault team leader immediately led 32 team members to the Xinping photovoltaic project front line and formulated a plan and clarified the division of labor that evening. Faced with the challenges of remote sites, inconvenient road transportation, and the inability to transport machinery, the assault team leader decided to adopt a manual handling plan. This plan required construction workers to carry 32.6 kg photovoltaic panels on steep slopes and transport them back and forth while ensuring safety, which was extremely challenging to the team members' physical strength and coordination. In addition, since the photovoltaic panels are fragile, the team members need to be highly focused and cannot be careless.

Once the components arrived, the team members immediately got to work, starting with tightening every screw and washer, adjusting the length of the photovoltaic bracket's standard diagonal supports, and quickly assembling the photovoltaic components. They developed blisters on their feet and calluses on their hands, yet no one complained. Through several days of tireless effort and teamwork, the construction progress was ensured. Every day, the strike team leader would hold a meeting after work to confirm whether the daily progress was within the controllable range and whether it would affect the node schedule. By supervising the movement of machinery throughout the process, rationally allocating resources, and optimizing the construction process, they ensured that material supply, personnel allocation, and technical support all met the construction needs, successfully completing the assault mission in Zone 53.

Under the setting sun, rows of photovoltaic arrays, clad in silver, rose from the ground. Looking back on our journey, all the difficulties have been overcome. The project frontline is the main battlefield for engineering personnel. Next, we will likely face more photovoltaic projects. Faced with the "urgent, difficult, dangerous, and new" tasks in the new energy industry, the Eleventh Engineering Project Department will continue to take on heavy responsibilities, overcome difficulties, and build more high-quality projects with stronger determination, faster speed, and higher quality, contributing to the high-quality development of the group and the company.