China starts work on solar plant built under extreme conditions, amid global energy crisis

China has broken ground on a 50-megawatt concentrated solar power plant in Tibet at an altitude of 4,550 metres (14,900 feet), making it the world’s highest-altitude parabolic trough solar thermal facility.

Photo: handout China has broken ground on a 50-megawatt concentrated solar power plant in Tibet at an altitude of 4,550 metres (14,900 feet), making it the world’s highest-altitude parabolic trough solar thermal facility.

The project, located in Dangxiong County, incorporates a 400-megawatt photovoltaic system and is scheduled for full operation by 2027, Xinhua reported.

Preparatory digging at the site began on Monday.

Global energy supplies have grown increasingly volatile in recent years, due to climate variability and geopolitical tensions – including ongoing conflicts in the Middle East – which has pushed countries to seek more reliable and diversified electricity sources.

China’s rapid renewable energy expansion, particularly in high-altitude regions like Tibet, forms a key part of its strategy to enhance energy security and mitigate such volatility.

Rapid renewable energy development is extending the power grid into remote high-altitude areas, forming an ultra-high-voltage network centred on 500-kilovolt main lines with coordinated sub-grids to ensure more stable and flexible power delivery, according to local authorities.

Technically, the Dangxiong plant uses parabolic trough technology with heat-transfer oil, covering 242,000 square metres (2.6 million square feet) across 68 collector loops.

Eight of these loops feature China’s self-developed 8.6-metre-wide troughs, the largest to be used in commercial solar thermal projects worldwide.

The plant also integrates molten salt storage, which can convert excess daytime solar energy into heat for storage and release at night or during periods of low sunlight, providing a more continuous power supply.

Once operational, the integrated project is expected to supply an average of 719 million kilowatt-hours annually, equivalent to the total annual electricity consumption of around 220,000 modern Chinese urban households.

This follows the June 2025 launch of a 100-megawatt solar thermal plant in Anduo, northern Tibet, at an altitude of roughly 4,650 metres, making it the world’s first solar thermal plant constructed under such extreme high-altitude, low-temperature and weak-grid conditions, according to Xinhua.

In recent years, Tibet’s clean electricity has been transmitted to Beijing, Chongqing

原文链接: 南华早报