Aiming to combine renewable energy development with combating desertification, an ambitious initiative known as the “Solar Great Wall” is moving forward in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, local authorities said.
The mammoth project, spanning 400 kilometers in length with an average width of 5 km, not only promises to supply sustainable electricity to Beijing and its surrounding areas, but can also make a substantial contribution to preserving the Yellow River, a mother river of the Chinese nation.
A photovoltaic power generation plant spans the grasslands of Otog Front Banner in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Nov. 2024. (Photo: Wang Zheng/Xinhua)
With a total installed capacity of 100 million kilowatts, the project launched earlier this year is expected to generate approximately 180 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year by 2030, when it is at full capacity.
Last year Beijing consumed 135.8 billion kWh of electricity.
Located on the southern bank of the Yellow River and at the northern edge of the Kubuqi Desert, China’s seventh-largest desert, the project will also help prevent soil erosion and thus reduce sediment entering the Yellow River. In total, it will help treat nearly 27 million hectares of desert.
Workers install photovoltaic panels at a new energy base in the Kubuqi Desert in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, August 2023. (Photo: China Daily)
In an interview with China Daily, Li Kai, an official with the Dalad Banner Energy Administration, highlighted the huge economic and ecological benefits that this project is expected to bring.
The “Solar Great Wall” will be 133 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide. Thanks to the project, Dalad’s total renewable energy capacity will reach 19 million kW by the end of this decade.
“This achievement will result in an annual green energy output of 38 billion kWh, generating savings equivalent to nearly 12.6 million metric tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 31.3 million tons,” Li said.
By 2030, Dalad will be able to transmit 48 billion kWh of green electricity per year to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region through an ultra-high-voltage electricity transmission line that is under construction.
While solar panels can directly contribute to desertification control by serving as windbreaks and sand binders, they also provide shade to reduce evaporation of soil moisture.
“2,400 hectares of cash crops will be planted beneath the panels to help treat the desert,” Li added.
The move to utilize the space beneath the panels underscores the local government’s commitment to achieving a symbiotic relationship between ecological preservation and economic advancement.
Trenches for the installation of photovoltaic panels in Dalad Banner, Inner Mongolia, March 2024. (Photo: Wang Xiaobo/ China Daily)
“All the projects are investments by state-owned enterprises, some of which are centrally managed, so local governments do not have to make any outlay,” Li explained. He also highlighted the measures that Dalad authorities have put in place to pave the way for the implementation of the huge project.
The local government has coordinated on-site approval sessions that have brought together officials from the departments involved. In addition, they have appointed special officials to provide essential support in managing all official procedures at various stages.
“In total, by 2030 this project will generate approximately 50,000 job opportunities and the average annual income of the human capital involved will be over 20,000 yuan (2,815 U.S. dollars),” Li concluded.
