North China's Hebei province achieved a clean energy milestone with the full-capacity grid connection of the Longhua Chanmingshan 300,000 kW/1.2 million kWh Independent Energy Storage Station in Chengde city on Wednesday last week.

With a total investment of 1.38 billion yuan ($191 million) and spanning 81.35 mu (5.4 hectares), the project is among China's largest lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery-based energy storage facilities, according to a report by local media Chengde Daily.

It can store and discharge 300,000 kWh of electricity per hour for four consecutive hours, totaling 1.2 million kWh—enough to power 4,000 households for a month, the report stated.

The station is designed to support the province's northern areas' grid by balancing supply and demand during peak hours, stabilizing frequency fluctuations, and integrating renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar.

It also provides emergency backup and "black start" capabilities to restore power during outages. Black start refers to a power system's ability to restart itself without relying on external electricity sources after a complete shutdown.

Operated by Hebei Shengde Infrastructure Development Co, a subsidiary of Hebei Transportation Investment Group, the facility has entered trial operation.

"By addressing renewable energy bottlenecks and enhancing grid flexibility, this project is critical to optimizing clean energy use in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," Sun Jiuyi, chief accountant of Hebei Shengde, was quoted as saying in the report.

Notably, the facility adopts an innovative "string-type" battery configuration, an upgrade from traditional centralized systems.

This technology enables individual control of each battery module, boosting energy conversion efficiency by 8 percent while reducing operational costs by 40 percent, according to the report.

Over its lifespan, the upgrade will save an additional 9 million kWh annually, equivalent to one month's power for 30,000 households.

"String systems minimize energy loss and improve safety, setting a new benchmark for large-scale storage projects," said Ye Xiongtao, the project's lead official.