In one of the most unpopulated and arid regions of China, a landscape for centuries dominated by dust, a huge sand patch is starting to dye green. The cause is not a miraculous climate change or a mass reforestation project, but a solar park as large as the city of Madrid.
Seven million solar panels. Located in the province of Qinghai, this megaobra still under construction extends over 610 square kilometers of Tibetan plateau with the aim of housing more than seven million photovoltaic panels.
Its generation capacity will be sufficient to supply electricity to five million homes, which makes it the largest solar farm in the world. But beyond energy figures, the most surprising impact is being seen at ground level.
Thus it is transforming the landscape. The installation It is having beneficial effects on local ecology. Solar panels, aligned in endless ranks, act as a barrier against the wind that reduces erosion, slows the advance of dust and sand and, more importantly, reduces the evaporation of soil water.
Under the protective shadow of panels, vegetation has found an opportunity to prosper. The grass and small bushes are beginning to grow, which has created a greener ecosystem that attracts local fauna.
Maintenance is in charge of the sheep. To maintain vegetation under control, the installation has hired sheep in the area. Thousands of sheep come to graze quietly among the panels, an association that a local official described Associated Press as a “win-win”.
Although the area of the area It is under public scrutiny For complaints of repression of the Uigur people, local revergeation is a powerful symbol in favor of the energy transition. Not only generates clean energy, but more humid microclimates and vegetation under the rows of panels, turned into meadows for the so -called “photovoltaic sheep.”
China’s figures Marean. This project is the spearhead of the monumental China strategy to Lead the energy transition. In 2024, China was responsible for 61% of solar capacity facilities and almost 70% of wind installed on the planet.
The figures by 2025 are even more spectacular. Only in the first half of the year, the Asian country added 212 GW of solar energy, more than all the capacity of the United States, as well as 51 GW of wind energy. This acceleration is paying off: China has already reached The objective proposed for 2030 and their carbon emissions have fallen for the first time.
Image | Google Maps
In Xataka | Minnesota installed solar panels in two huge crops. Five years later, they are a paradise for bees
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings