Why China built 162 square miles of solar panels on the Tibetan Plateau

China harnesses Tibetan Plateau for renewables

On the Tibetan Plateau, almost 10,000 feet above sea level, solar panels now blanket 162 square miles — an area seven times the size of Manhattan. The high altitude lets sunlight hit with great force, so the plateau is an excellent location for big solar power plants. In conjunction with the solar panels, wind turbines on distant ridgelines take advantage of night breezes, and hydropower dams tap the region's rivers. The combined total generates an enormous renewable energy network, the New York Times reported.

A centre for machine intelligence

Its renewable energy potential not only serves the surrounding societies but also the energy-hungry data centres. The data centres are increasingly being deployed behind the Chinese artificial intelligence industry, so the development of the AI is getting the access to the carbon-free, affordable electricity. The high-voltage lines transport the electricity over 1,000 miles through China, connecting the remoteness to industrial heartlands as well as the cities.

Xi Jinping’s climate pledge

China's clean energy development is this week's coincidence with President Xi Jinping's first-ever promise at the United Nations. Xi vowed China will cut greenhouse gas emissions throughout the economy and generate renewable energy six times during the next few years. The promise is the planet's biggest polluter's historic u-turn despite China continuing to burn the same level of coal as the rest of the planet.

A comparative alternative to the US

The Chinese strategy is the reverse strategy by the America under Donald Trump. As Beijing is augmenting solar, wind, batteries and electric cars to be the world's big-green-tech supplier, Washington has been driven by the export of the good-old-American-oil, coal and gas. The divide is an even wider confrontation: will the future global energy market be driven by fossils or by renewals.

The Talatan Solar Park

At the core of the plan is the Qinghai province-based Talatan Solar Park. Spanning an alpine desert wasteland, the farm is the largest among all other solar projects in the rest of the world. The farm's humongous capacity, efficiency, and complementarity with hydropower and wind power makes the farm the crown jewel in China's drive to lead the renewable revolution. The park is not only cleantech to Beijing but also global geostrategic power, with China achieving an upper hand over the rest of the planet in the exportation of green technologies.

Looking ahead

Despite the coal dependence, China’s dash toward wind and sun is the big picture. By leveraging the geographical advantage of the Tibetan Plateau, Beijing is cutting the nation's fossil-fuels dependence and equipping itself with the means to dominate the clean-energy game of the century. If this pace is able to outshine that coal consumption, the credibility of China's climate commitments on the global stage will depend.