Tianjia’an Power Plant

Tianjia’an Power Plant

Tianjia’an Power Plant is a patriotic education base.

Anhui Electric Power Co., Ltd. Huainan Tianjia’an Power Plant is located in the eastern suburbs of Tianjia’an District, Huainan City, Anhui Province — a major coal and electricity energy base in China. It borders the Huaihe River to the north, faces National Highway 206 to the south, and is adjacent to the Hefei-Xuzhou Expressway, Hefei-Huainan-Fuyang Expressway, Hefei-Bengbu High-Speed Railway, and Shanghai-Huainan Railway, offering highly convenient transportation.

Originally named Huainan Power Plant, Huainan Tianjia’an Power Plant was established in October 1941, making it the oldest power plant in Huainan City and even in Anhui Province. Its predecessor was the Xiayao Power Station, built by the Japanese invaders during their occupation of China to exploit Huainan’s coal resources, marking the beginning of industrialized electricity use in Anhui Province. Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, its development was slow. After the establishment of New China, the plant underwent seven phases of expansion, reaching an installed capacity of 1.115 million kilowatts by 2006, becoming one of the few thermal power plants in China that developed from its original pre-liberation site to exceed one million kilowatts in capacity. Over more than 70 years since its establishment, Huainan Tianjia’an Power Plant has supplied nearly 2,000 engineering and technical management professionals to the power systems of Anhui and even the whole country, earning the reputation as the “cradle” of Anhui’s electric power industry. Throughout its development over half a century, the plant has been successively renamed: Tianjia’an Power Station, Huainan Power Plant, Anhui Huainan Power Plant, Huainan Tianjia’an Power Plant, and Anhui Electric Power Co., Ltd. Huainan Tianjia’an Power Plant. It is now affiliated with China Datang Corporation and is a large-scale thermal power plant jointly owned by China Datang Corporation and Huainan Mining Group. The plant currently operates two 320 MW cogeneration units, with a total installed capacity of 640 MW, covering an area of 486,000 square meters.

Tracing the history of Huainan Tianjia’an Power Plant is to trace a history of striving to be the first and a history of development filled with glory.

In 1954, the first 6,000 kW unit designed and manufactured in China was installed at this plant and went into operation in April 1956, ending the era when China could not independently produce generators. It was hailed as the first milestone in China’s electric power industry. In October 1958, Liu Shaoqi, then Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, visited the plant. When he saw the domestically produced first 6,000 kW unit with the serial number “001,” he nodded in approval and instructed, “Make good use of and manage domestic power generation equipment, accumulate more production and construction experience, and develop the country’s power industry.” Over the years, the first 1,000 kW unit independently installed in Anhui Province, the first 25,000 kW unit produced domestically, the first two 120,000 kW hydrogen-cooled generator sets imported from Poland, the first two 125,000 kW units produced domestically, and the largest technical renovation project at the time — a 300,000 kW unit — were successively built and put into operation at the plant. In 1977, it became the largest power plant in East China and also the thermal power plant with the most comprehensive range of installed units in China at the time, earning the nickname “Power Museum” in the power system. It was awarded the Silver Medal for Patriotic Inter-Plant Competition for three consecutive times by the former State Electric Power Administration Bureau and the Electric Power Trade Union, and pioneered over 100 technologies in China.

In recent years, Huainan Tianjia’an Power Plant has actively responded to the national policy of “replacing small units with larger ones for energy conservation and emission reduction,” voluntarily shutting down small units. On one hand, it organized employees to go beyond the plant to explore markets; on the other hand, it actively carried out heating renovation for its units. In market expansion, it has successively established four overseas project bases in Turkey’s BIGA and SILOPI, and Indonesia’s Cilacap and Jelai, as well as three domestic project bases in Anhui’s Dangtu, Anqing, and Inner Mongolia’s Hexigten, engaging in comprehensive power operation and maintenance services. For heating renovation, it established Zhongrun Thermal Company, successfully transitioning from single power generation to cogeneration.

With its profound plant history, rich historical materials, and artifacts, Tianjia’an Power Plant houses exhibition halls such as the “Historical Evolution and Development” exhibition hall, a lecture hall, a cultural corridor, and historical relics. It has also produced educational materials including the documentary “Keeping Tian Electric Forever Young,” the slide show “Electric Power Production Process,” the promotional brochure “Historical Evolution and Development,” and the chronicle “General Chronicle of Huainan Power Plant.” These comprehensively showcase the development history of Huainan’s power industry and the struggle of Huainan’s power workers, demonstrating profound cultural heritage and significant educational value. The plant is open to the public and has carried out diverse educational activities such as “A Thousand People Visit the Exhibition Hall,” Corporate Open Days, and outdoor movie screenings to enhance the effectiveness of patriotic education, allowing participants to gain an up-close understanding of the history of Huainan’s power development. In November 2015, the plant was designated as the second batch of patriotic education bases in Huainan City.

The development of Tianjia’an Power Plant reflects the development of Huainan’s power industry, providing profound educational significance for the people of Huainan and visitors from all over to understand the development of Huainan’s power industry and support the construction of “Colorful Huainan.”