OPINION | The Wire Across the Roof of the World: China pushes the clean electricity frontier

The electricity is generated from a mix of hydro, wind and solar spread across large energy bases on the plateau.

High on the Tibetan plateau, China is building a power line that could change the map more than any new military post. It is an ultra-high-voltage direct current link that will carry clean electricity from the mountains of southeastern Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) to the factories and cities of the Greater Bay Area on the coast.

Engineers plan to move about ten gigawatts over more than two and a half thousand kilometres. By the end of the decade the line is expected to deliver more than forty-three billion kilowatt hours a year. The electricity is generated from a mix of hydro, wind and solar spread across large energy bases on the plateau.

It is a bold attempt to turn thin air and clear skies into steady power for the coast. For India, the implications are direct: developments on the Tibetan plateau that strengthen China’s energy and logistics backbone also change realities along our border.

Tightening Beijing’s grip on Tibet

The project does not stand alone. Power corridors bring roads, worker housing, fibre lines and a permanent maintenance presence. Rail is part of the picture too. The Sichuan to TAR railway is advancing and will cut the journey from Chengdu to Lhasa to well under a day. In short, the plateau is being tied more tightly to the rest of China.

People in TAR are also earning more than before. TAR’s per capita disposable income reached 31,358 yuan ($4,373 USD) in 2024 with an 8.2% growth rate, the highest among all Chinese provincial-level areas. The region's per capita GDP hit 71,000 yuan ($9,975 USD), representing a 300-fold increase since 1965. Rural residents achieved a 21,578-yuan ($3,010 USD) income, reaching 93.3% of China's national rural average and leading the country in income growth. Better incomes and better links create a simple dynamic. When it is easier to move people, goods and electrons, more activity follows.

Emission implications of the project

There is a climate story as well. Sending clean electricity to the coast means less coal is burnt in the biggest demand centres. Every unit of power that travels from TAR to Guangdong avoids a unit that would have come from a smokestack. That helps China inch towards its promise of carbon neutrality by the middle of the century.

It is also an engineering test. Running a spine of power across fragile geology and great altitude asks a lot of planners. Lines must cross landslide zones, rivers that can flood without warning, and ground that thaws and refreezes. If they succeed, it shows that big grid decarbonisation can work even in the hardest places.

Electricity has strategic implications

The civil effects inside TAR could be large. A guaranteed path to market reduces the risk of building new solar and wind farms at altitude. Investors fear wasted output when there is no way to send it to where it is needed. A strong line to the coast calms that fear. Support services then follow. Operations teams set up close to the plants. Storage pilots appear. Local grids get more stable. Clinics and schools can rely on steady voltage. Remote hamlets need fewer diesel generators.

Yet power is never only technical. It is also political. Strong grids, fast rail and better roads extend the reach of the state. Villages along the frontier gain services, but they also gain a lasting official presence. From Beijing’s view, that is a success. The plateau becomes more governed, more connected and more central to national growth. This is where the development story touches the border story.

By the end of this first sweep across the facts, New Delhi has good reason to pay attention. A long line that sends clean power to the coast also builds capacity in border regions. Corridors that bring electricity also bring logistics, communications and people. They make frontier settlements more viable throughout the year. They shorten response times. They turn once distant areas into parts of a daily network. For India, this is a strategic shift dressed in the language of development.

What should India take from this moment?

First, power is strategy. Roads and rail are vital, but energy that is reliable at altitude is the true foundation of presence. Our plans on the frontier should weave together distributed renewables, resilient microgrids, storage where terrain allows, and backup fuels for hard weather. The Border Roads Organisation has made real progress on bridges and tunnels. The same drive is needed for the wires and the watts that keep bases, clinics and schools alive when storms close the road.

Second, corridors must serve communities. Beijing has tied services to symbolism by improving border villages and calling them well off. India’s Vibrant Villages Programme should continue to invest in health care, schools, telecoms and livelihoods so that roads and towers become anchors for families, not only for troops. A populated and thriving village is the quietest and strongest marker on a map.

Third, policymakers should model the new reality. As TAR gains internal transmission and faster trains, Indian grid operators need to ask how that changes demand spikes, hydro operations and logistics in the Northeast. Preparing for quicker moves on the other side leads to better stocks, spares and alternative routes on our side.

In the end, this is not a story of one country winning and another losing. It is a lesson in how clean energy and state power can travel together. China is stringing an extension cord across the roof of the world. If it hums as planned, it will light coastal cities and lock the plateau more firmly into the national core. India does not need to copy that project. It needs to outthink it. Build resilient border development that puts people first, keeps power on, and holds the line without noise. That would be a calm and confident answer to a very large wire.

(Y Nithiyanandam is Professor & Head- Geospatial Research Programme, Takshashila Institution.)

Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.