Departing from the urban area of Qamdo, Tibet, and heading southeast along the winding Chamang Highway into Lhato Township of Gonjo County, one can see from afar photovoltaic panels spread across the mountains in neat rows, like a brilliant blue ocean. This was the astonishing sight that greeted reporters on July 12 as they stood on this snow-covered plateau at an altitude of 4,600 meters. Even more remarkable, the native meadow beneath the photovoltaic panels had already largely turned green and sprouted anew—this "photovoltaics over grassland" matrix had just weathered a special challenge: large-scale clean energy development in a high-altitude, ecologically fragile area.

"Building a photovoltaic power station on a plateau at an altitude of 4,600 meters means not only solving power generation efficiency issues but also overcoming two major hurdles: permafrost construction and ecological protection," Heng Bo, Party Secretary and Deputy Director of the Gonjo County Development and Reform Commission, told reporters. Gonjo County is making every effort to build an integrated clean energy demonstration base combining hydropower, wind, solar and storage. Currently, three photovoltaic projects are under construction, with a total installed capacity of 2.2 million kilowatts and a total investment of 10.792 billion yuan; a 250,000-kilowatt wind power project is being planned. "This place is expected to become one of the highest-altitude integrated hydro-wind-solar-storage bases in China," Heng Bo said.

At the Lhato photovoltaic project site, a gravel-surfaced entry road winds toward the construction area, with thick square blocks of turf stacked neatly along the roadside. "A major difficulty in advancing the project is meeting near-stringent ecological and environmental protection requirements in a harsh natural environment," Ye Bai said. To protect the fragile soil and water of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the project adopted this primitive permeable and breathable paving method; after construction is completed, all the gravel can be fully recovered and the land restored to its original state. The turf peeled off piece by piece from the construction site was carefully numbered and maintained, to be laid back in its original place once the project is completed.

The clean energy projects have also driven income growth for local residents. Tashi Palden, a worker from Lhato Township who once made a living by herding and earned less than 20,000 yuan a year, was among the first to sign up for skills training organized by the Gonjo County human resources and social security department after the project broke ground in 2023. He is now a construction team leader on the Lhato photovoltaic project, earning more than 8,000 yuan a month and over 90,000 yuan in work income last year. "My family has built a new house and bought a pickup truck. This 'photovoltaic rice bowl' is getting steadier and steadier," Tashi Palden said. According to statistics, the three photovoltaic projects have employed local farmers and herders a total of 2,505 person-times, paid out 46.11 million yuan in labor and other fees, and paid 71.67 million yuan in land lease fees, generating total income growth of more than 117 million yuan.

Source: Science and Technology Daily