Aerial photography of solar power generation in the Gobi Desert

Where are solar panels located in the Gobi Desert?

Six years later, solar panels have expanded much deeper into the Gobi Desert, where sunlight and land are abundant. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on the Earth Observing-1 satellite acquired these images of the solar farms, located on the outskirts of Dunhuang in northwestern China’s Gansu Province.

What is the Gobi Desert solar park?

The 2.2 gigawatt facility spans an area of over 25 square kilometers in the Gobi desert. This $3 billion flagship project demonstrates the epic scale of renewable infrastructure developing worldwide. Traveling to the Tengger Desert Solar Park in northwestern China, rows upon rows of solar panels extend endlessly under the barren sky.

Will China build 455 gigawatts of solar power in the Gobi?

China plans to build 455 gigawatts of solar and wind power generation capacity in the Gobi and other desert regions by 2030 as part of efforts to boost renewable power use to meet climate change goals, according to a document issued by National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration in March 2022.

What is the power transmission project in Gobi Desert?

An illustration of the power transmission project in Gobi Desert. /CMG Construction of a new ultra-high voltage (UHV) power transmission project, which will send power from northwest China to the central province of Hunan, began in Tengger Desert in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on Sunday.

Why do we need a large-scale wind power base in the Gobi?

Yu Bing, deputy head of the National Energy Administration, said that the construction of large-scale wind power and photovoltaic bases in the Gobi and other desert regions is a major measure to promote green and low-carbon energy transformation, overall development and security, and build a new energy system.

What is China's PV power generation industry like?

China's PV power generation industry has also been developing remarkably. As of the end of 2020, China's solar PV power generation capacity has reached 253 GW, mainly distributed in the Gobi deserts of the arid area in Northwest China.