The Rapid Rise of Wind and Solar Power in Western China

In 2000, China was lagging behind in the global wind and solar power landscape (wind energy and solar power generation). That year, China's installed capacity of wind and solar power was less than 350,000 kilowatts, barely worth mentioning.

However, today, China has not only reversed the situation to become the global leader but also taken a significant lead.

This miracle was born in the western region!

01 The Main Battlefield

Carbon peaking and carbon neutrality represent a "green" revolution.

To win this tough battle, it is necessary to develop clean energy, with the core being - developing wind and solar power!

In 2019, the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Carbon Peaking before 2030", proposing to comprehensively promote the large - scale development of wind and solar power.

According to the plan, by 2030, the total installed capacity of wind and solar power in China will reach over 1.2 billion kilowatts, equivalent to 50 Three Gorges Hydropower Stations.

The western region, as the gathering place of China's "wind" and "solar" resources, has been pushed onto the historical stage!

The western region is the most vast area in China, covering a total of 6.87 million square kilometers, accounting for 72% of the country's total area and about 30% of the country's population.

It covers 12 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) - Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Guangxi.

The western region has absolute resource advantages. According to statistics, the wind resources in the western region account for over 85% of the country's total, and the solar resources account for about 90% of the country's total.

▲ Distribution map of solar resources in 2024, Source: China Meteorological Administration

In the 14th Five - Year Plan, China will build a total of 9 clean energy bases. Among them, 7 are in the western region, and wind and solar power are the core development items. The specific situation is summarized as follows:

Meanwhile, large - scale wind and solar power projects in desert, gobi, and barren areas have also been gradually put on the agenda!

In October 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping announced that "large - scale wind and photovoltaic power base projects should be planned and built at an accelerated pace in desert, gobi, and desert areas."

Since then, the first, second, and third batches of "desert, gobi, and barren area" wind and solar power projects have been successively announced.

The western region remains the main battlefield!

The Tarim Oilfield in Xinjiang is the location of a 1.3 million - kilowatt photovoltaic power generation project.

Han Haoliang, the team leader of the youth commando and the project leader, is a post - 90s generation. Here, the average age of the team is only 33 years old.

Looking around, it's a vast desert. Almost every day, sandstorms blow.

Once, Han Haoliang and his colleagues drove 3 off - road vehicles into the project area. Suddenly, they were attacked by a severe sandstorm. Two vehicles were stuck in the sand pits and couldn't move.

They could only rely on the remaining vehicle to leave the desert. The next day, "two vehicles were half - buried by sand."

Despite such an environment, the project was successfully completed.

At the completion ceremony, Han Haoliang said to everyone that in the western region, "What we plant here is not just photovoltaic panels, but also the seeds of the ecological environment. We hope these seeds can start a prairie fire in the vast desert!"

02 The Great Landscape of Wind and Solar Power

In 2000, China was lagging behind in the global wind and solar power landscape.

In that year, in the field of wind power, Germany's installed wind power capacity exceeded 6 million kilowatts, accounting for over one - third of the global total; while China's annual installed wind power capacity was only 340,000 kilowatts, less than 6% of Germany's.

In the field of solar power, in 2000, the global installed photovoltaic capacity was 1.288 GW. Among them, Japan ranked first with 480 MW. In contrast, China's installed photovoltaic capacity was almost negligible, with an annual production capacity of only 3 MW.

But today, China's wind and solar power lead the world!

The "Statistical Data of the National Power Industry in 2024" released by the National Energy Administration shows that last year, China's installed solar power capacity was about 890 million kilowatts, a year - on - year increase of 45.2%, ranking first in the world for 15 consecutive years; the installed wind power capacity was about 520 million kilowatts, a year - on - year increase of 18.0%, ranking first in the world for 10 consecutive years.

The installed power generation capacity refers to the maximum electric power that a power station or power generation equipment can output per unit time, which is an important indicator to measure power generation capacity.

▲ The installed power generation capacity in 2024, Image Source: National Energy Administration

It is worth mentioning that as of the end of June 2024, the cumulative installed capacity of solar and wind power in China had reached 1.18 billion kilowatts, exceeding the installed capacity of coal - fired power for the first time.

In terms of power generation, in 2024, the total power generation of wind and photovoltaic power in the country reached 1.83 trillion kilowatt - hours, accounting for 18.1% of the total social power generation.

The western region is the core support.

By reviewing the government work reports of the western region, it is found that the installed capacity of new energy (mainly including wind and solar power) in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Gansu is particularly prominent:

Inner Mongolia: Multiple indicators such as the total installed capacity, newly added installed capacity, and power generation of new energy rank first in the country. Its cumulative installed capacity of new energy has exceeded 135 million kilowatts, surpassing the installed capacity of thermal power. In 2024, the installed capacity of wind and photovoltaic power was 2.727 million kilowatts.

Xinjiang: The cumulative installed capacity of new energy has reached 104.8 million kilowatts, making it the first province in the northwest region with an installed new energy capacity exceeding 100 million kilowatts. Throughout 2024, the newly added installed capacity of new energy was 40.37 million kilowatts.

Gansu: The total installed capacity of new energy has exceeded 64 million kilowatts. In 2024 alone, the newly added installed capacity of new energy was 12 million kilowatts. The proportion of new energy in the energy structure has reached 64%, and its dominant position has been basically established.

In 2024, there were four provinces in the country where the proportion of the installed capacity of new energy exceeded 50%. Among them, three were in the western region - Qinghai, Gansu, and Ningxia.

Behind this are numerous wind and solar power projects springing up!

As of the end of 2024, the first batch of 50 large - scale wind and photovoltaic power base projects in desert, gobi, and barren areas had been basically completed and put into operation, with an installed capacity of over 90 million kilowatts.

After sorting out, among the above 50 projects, 39 are located in the western region, accounting for 78%; among the planned installed capacity of 97.36 million kilowatts, 84.55 million kilowatts are located in the western region, accounting for 87%.

Among them, the top three in terms of construction scale are - Inner Mongolia (13 projects with a construction scale of 31.1 million kilowatts); Shaanxi (3 projects with a construction scale of 12.5 million kilowatts); Qinghai (5 projects with a construction scale of 10.9 million kilowatts). The specific situation is as follows:

In addition to production capacity, the construction of the transportation capacity for wind and solar power in the western region is also keeping up!

Transmitting electricity from the west to the east over thousands of kilometers requires the "expressway" - the ultra - high voltage power transmission project.

During the 14th Five - Year Plan period, the state plans to build 12 inter - provincial and inter - regional ultra - high voltage channels, including "three AC and nine DC" projects. Among them, 9 start from the western region.

As of now, 7 have been vigorously started! The specific situation is as follows:

The implementation of the "three AC and nine DC" projects will greatly improve the transportation capacity of "green electricity" (i.e., new energy power generation, mainly including wind and solar power) in the western region!

Taking the "Long (Gansu) Electricity to Zhejiang" project as an example, it is predicted that after the project is put into operation, the utilization rate of new energy in Gansu will increase from 85% to over 90%.

According to the public announcement by the National Energy Administration in 2024, among the 39 ultra - high voltage AC and DC projects put into operation in the country, 24 are transmitted from the western energy bases, accounting for over 60%.

In recent years, the state has been continuously optimizing the utilization rate of "green electricity".

On the one hand, the marketization level of "green electricity" has been continuously improving.

In February this year, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued a document emphasizing that new energy power generation (green electricity) will bid farewell to the previous model where part of the electricity was purchased through guaranteed procurement and fixed electricity prices, and will fully participate in market competition.

According to the regulations, for incremental projects put into operation after June 1, the entire amount of electricity connected to the grid will enter the market first and will no longer enjoy the protection of fixed electricity prices.

According to the "Blue Book on the Development Plan of the National Unified Power Market", by 2029, China will fully establish a national unified power market.

On the other hand, the concept of "using western electricity in the west" has been put on the agenda.

The essence of "using western electricity in the west" is to guide the westward shift of high - energy - consuming industries so that energy production and consumption can be matched locally in the western region.

This measure will further improve the local consumption capacity of green electricity.

03 Heroes in the Western Region

China's wind and solar power industry used to be in a state of "having nothing" - lacking funds, talents, and technologies.

In 1989, in Dabancheng, Xinjiang in the western region, China built the largest wind farm in Asia at that time. However, almost all the wind turbine equipment was imported from Denmark, and the post - maintenance costs were very high.

At that time, China did not have the ability to independently manufacture wind turbines, and its technology was restricted.

Today, this bottleneck has long been broken!

Currently, the construction of wind and solar power projects in the western region has basically achieved technological independence.

As of 2025, the localization rate of ultra - large wind turbine complete machines in China has reached over 95%, and the localization rate of key core components is close to 100%; while the localization rate of photovoltaic equipment also exceeds 90%.

Currently, China's wind and solar power equipment has entered the international market! 70% of the world's photovoltaic modules and 60% of the wind power equipment come from China.

Behind this, private enterprises have played an important role.

A group of private enterprises have continuously broken through technological barriers and supported the construction of large - scale wind and solar power projects in the western region. These include Trina Solar, Envision Energy, Sungrow Power Supply, LONGi Green Energy Technology, Goldwind Science & Technology, and other enterprises.

Trina Solar is quite representative in the photovoltaic field.

Perovskite solar cells are the "star technology" in the photovoltaic field in recent years and are regarded as the most promising next - generation photovoltaic technology after crystalline silicon cells.

The "Global Patent Ranking of Perovskite Solar Cells" shows that as of March 2025, Trina Solar ranked first in the world with 481 patent applications, far exceeding the second - ranked Panasonic of Japan.

Trina Solar, founded in 1997, mainly engages in three major sectors: photovoltaic products, photovoltaic systems, and smart energy. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2006 and on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2020.

High Jifan, the founder of Trina Solar, studied under Tang Aoqing, the "Father of Chinese Quantum Chemistry". At the age of 23, he gave up the opportunity to study abroad and went south to Shenzhen to start a business.

In 1997, after the adoption of the "Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change", High Jifan foresaw the market prospects of solar power generation technology and returned to his hometown, Changzhou, to found Trina Solar.

High Jifan went to the western region very early.

In 2002, when the state began to promote the electrification project in non - electrified townships in the western region, Trina Solar sent "Eighteen Warriors" to Tibet several times and finally built 40 photovoltaic power stations, enabling 40 townships to have access to electricity.

High Jifan recalled, "When we turned on the power switch at night, the whole mountain village suddenly lit up. This scene deeply influenced me."

Since then, High Jifan has participated in the construction of photovoltaic projects in the western region many times.

For example, in the under - construction "Desert, Gobi, and Barren Area" wind and solar new energy base project in Jinta, Gansu, with a total installed capacity of 500 MW