Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region is leveraging its abundant wind and solar resources on "the roof of the world" for sustainable green development.
In Nagqu, a city with an average altitude of over 4,500 meters, 25 custom-designed wind turbines are in operation at a wind farm, delivering reliable electricity supply to the area.
These high-altitude wind turbines are uniquely tailored, differing from those used in other regions. With specialized sizes and coatings, they are optimized to perform effectively in the challenging high-altitude environment.
"Our wind turbines feature an elongated body, which enhances aerodynamic performance. The aim is to increase the swept area under high-altitude conditions. Compared to turbines designed for plains or low-altitude environments, our turbines have a swept area three to five basketball courts larger. Besides, we use coatings specially developed for high-altitude environments, ensuring that the turbines look as fresh as new ones throughout the entire lifespan," said Hu Jiansheng, deputy general manager of the Nagqu branch of CHN Energy Xizang Electric Power Company.
The wind farm is equipped with an advanced intelligent monitoring system that tracks the performance of all turbines in real time, significantly reducing staff workload and enhancing operational safety.
"This is the intelligent monitoring system of our wind farm, capable of real-time monitoring of the operational data of all our wind turbines. Here, you can see the operation status of one of the turbines, with a color-coded system reflecting the conditions of various components. Compared to the past, it indicates our equipment conditions in a timely manner, significantly reducing the workload of our staff and enhancing operational safety," Hu said.
At an alpine grassland valley in Amdo County of Nagqu City, basking in over 2,800 hours of annual sunshine, a large solar farm is under construction.
One of the key facilities of the solar farm is the heliostat, which dynamically adjusts its angle to track the sun's movement, reflecting sunlight and concentrating it onto the heat-absorbing tower at the center of the solar panel field to generate electricity.
"This is a heliostat at our power station, and it is highly intelligent. Equipped with a solar tracker on top, its [calibration system] functions like a smartwatch monitoring 'heartbeats.' It is capable of real-time monitoring of the sun's azimuth and elevation angles with a precision of 0.1 degrees," said Zhou Jianwen, chief engineer of Xizang Development and Investment Corporation Nagqu River Company.
The solar project is scheduled to be connected to the power grid and begin operation in October 2026, providing reliable green energy for Amdo County and surrounding aeras.
Over recent years, Xizang has vigorously promoted green development and stepped up the construction of clean energy bases.
By the end of last year, more than 99 percent of Xizang's power generation came from clean energy -- making its regional power grid the one with the highest proportion of clean energy generation in China.
Xizang embraces wind, solar power for green development
