Vast deserts become sources of plentiful energy(2)

Special: Xinjiang

The transition will further optimize China's energy mix and facilitate the country's ambition to have nonfossil fuels account for 20 percent of total energy consumption by 2025 and 25 percent by 2030, said Luo Zuoxian, head of intelligence and research at the Sinopec Economics and Development Research Institute.

China's plan to build massive wind and solar power facilities in the country's desert areas will also facilitate the country's ambition of reaching 1.2 billion kilowatts of installed solar and wind capacity by 2030.

The project will boost the proportion of clean power in the country's energy mix while helping the country to achieve its sustainable energy ambitions. The regions involved will also be able to promote the development of an industrial chain for the manufacture of new-energy equipment, he said.

Luo said government efforts to transition to green energy have enabled regions like Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia — whose economic growth has long relied on heavy consumption of traditional energy sources that brought with it problems such as pollution from burning coal — to upgrade to a new energy-based structure.

In addition to Xinjiang, installed capacity of new energy connected to the grid in Inner Mongolia and Qinghai has also been climbing in recent years. Such new energy connections in Inner Mongolia, the country's largest coal producer, had exceeded 65 million metric tons by the end of 2022, as the region has adjusted its energy structure while continuing to produce coal.

Inner Mongolia also finished developing a series of wind power projects last year, including one in Xiliin Gol League with a capacity of 7 million kW and one in Ulanqab with 6 million kW of capacity.

A key national energy producer, Inner Mongolia has set a goal of new energy surpassing thermal power generation by 2030.

China's new energy industry is leading the world after years of development, from installed capacity and technical levels to industrial chain capacity, said the NEA.

China's green transition has been gaining momentum, with total installed capacity for renewable energy generation rising to 1.1 billion kW over the past 10 years, it said. Generation capacities in hydropower, wind, solar and biomass are tops in the world, it added.

Eyeing significant opportunities, domestic companies are also laying out plans to further tap the potential in the Gobi Desert and other arid regions in China.

China Three Gorges Corp is carrying out a huge clean energy project with an overall installed capacity of 16 million kW and an investment of 80 billion yuan in Inner Mongolia's Kubuqi Desert, China's seventh-largest desert. The project, to include 8 million kW of solar power capacity and 4 million kW of wind power, is expected to be the world's largest power generation center of its kind in desert areas.