Jan.6, 2020 -- Gongbo Canyon Hydropower Station. [Photo provided by Yellow River Hydropower Company]

Jan.6, 2020 -- Northwest China’s Qinghai province which boasts rich natural resources such as solar and water energy has in recent years witnessed rapid and stable development of clean energy. 

 

In Haixi prefecture abundant in solar and wind energy, a grid-connected PV power station with a capacity of 3.739 million kilowatts has been established. Hainan prefecture rich in water and solar energy has built a water-solar complimentary power station with a capacity of 850,000 kilowatts. By the end of October 2019, the total installed power capacity in Qinghai had reached 31.38 million kilowatts. The installed capacity of clean energy such as hydropower, solar and wind power stood at 27.46 million kilowatts, accounting for 87.5% of the total amount in Qinghai.

 

The booming new energy industry has generated jobs and benefited people’s lives. Photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects have become a leading force in the development of the economy in relative poor villages in Qinghai. Thanks to the photovoltaic programs, residents can utilize the electricity for domestic use and sell spare electricity to the national grid. The project yields a revenue of 570 million yuan every year with every low-income household getting a yearly subsidy of 3,000 yuan. Photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects have benefit 76,400 low-income households.

 

By the end of October in 2019, Qinghai had transmitted a total of 40.626 billion kilowatt hours of clean energy electricity out of the province. The province has the first green passage of electricity transmission in the world. The “Qinghai-Henan Kilowatt High Voltage Direct Current Transmission Project” started construction in November 2018 covering 1,596.6 kilometers. It is designed to transmit 40 billion kilowatt hours of clean electricity every year, saving 18 million tons of coals. When the project is completed, electricity generated by renewable energy in west China can be transmitted directly to central and eastern China.

By: Zhou Tianyu