News Summary
Reviewed.
- China is integrating the decades-long Great Green Wall campaign to halt desertification with solar energy by constructing the Great Solar Wall.
- China aims to produce 455 gigawatts of solar energy in desert areas by 2030, equivalent to the capacity of the Three Gorges Hydropower Project.
- Solar panels help create a favorable environment for vegetation by reducing ground temperature and wind speed, contributing to turning desert land green.
August 7, Kathmandu – China is advancing its ambitious Great Green Wall plan by making significant progress in solar energy initiatives. The use of solar power is a vital part of efforts to combat decades of desertification in China’s arid northern regions.
As part of this campaign, the Great Solar Wall is expanding in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. China aims to reduce fossil fuel consumption and supply solar energy to its economic centers.
Transforming desert areas into solar power hubs has made it possible both to generate clean energy and to control desertification, creating an environment conducive to plant growth and wildlife preservation.
Solar power is rapidly surpassing coal as the largest energy source in China, with substantial development concentrated in western and northern regions such as Inner Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where abundant sunlight and open land are available. This milestone is expected to be reached by the end of this year.
In 2022, China’s National Development and Reform Commission issued a plan to establish large-scale solar and wind energy projects in the Gobi Desert and other arid areas. The target capacity is 455 gigawatts by 2030.
This solar energy capacity will equal that of the Three Gorges Hydropower Project, the world’s largest hydroelectric facility. It will produce seven times the energy of the Yarlung Tsangpo mega-dam.
On July 22, Beijing unveiled a five-year plan to protect forests and grasslands, aiming to integrate desertification control with solar and wind energy development by 2030. This is a key project within the Three-North Shelterbelt program.
The Three-North Program (Great Green Wall) is a long-term campaign covering northeastern, northern, and northwest China to halt desert expansion. Initiated in 1978, it has included afforestation and sand control structures that have significantly reduced desertification.
In recent years, solar panels have added a new dimension to controlling desertification. Major solar projects in Inner Mongolia have been labeled the ‘Great Solar Wall’ by Chinese state media.
The Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia, China’s seventh largest desert, is the focal point of desertification control efforts. The solar project here is transforming the landscape.
The first phase saw a 1-gigawatt solar facility connected to the grid in 2023, covering nearly 2,000 hectares. This solar energy base will expand to produce 8 gigawatts from solar panels spanning over 15,300 hectares.
According to government reports, this project is expected to supply 4 gigawatts each to Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province, replacing energy from wind and coal sources.
The Kubuqi Desert is a primary source of dust storms affecting Beijing regularly. China has been employing effective measures to control sand and dust.
Among China’s notable solar plants is the 300-megawatt Junma Power Station, featuring over 196,000 solar panels arranged in the shape of a running horse, located on the northern edge of Kubuqi as part of a large-scale project.
According to Xinhua, the Great Solar Wall campaign aims to generate over 100 gigawatts of energy. This project will stretch 400 kilometers long and average 5 kilometers wide.
Another example is a solar plant situated between the Taklamakan and Kumtag Deserts, operated by the 33rd Regiment of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Science and Technology Daily published a special report on this in July.
Since 2014, the regiment has worked on forest conservation over 213 hectares to block wind and sand. Recently, they built a 12-kilometer-long straw checkerboard as part of the Great Green Wall, a widely used method in China to prevent sand movement.
Three years ago, they expanded desertification control efforts supported by solar power, establishing a 200-megawatt power station and energy storage system, now connected to the grid.
This power station can produce an average of 570 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, sufficient to power over 50,000 U.S. households, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Straw grids around solar panels and desert vegetation are supported by drip irrigation systems, utilizing agricultural canals and seasonal ponds, as explained by Science and Technology Daily.
Huawei Technologies’ FusionSolar system has been deployed at the Junma facility in Inner Mongolia. According to the company, shade from the solar panels facilitates plant growth and reduces wind speeds by up to 50 percent.
A 2022 study led by Nanjing University, published in the Journal of Environmental Management, found that temperatures under solar panels decreased in sandy areas, reducing wind erosion and water loss, thus supporting vegetation growth.
In 2024, analysis of satellite data by NASA showed that China’s solar projects are significantly contributing to efforts to turn desert land green.
