Kashgar’s installed solar capacity reaches 10 GW

This marks Xinjiang's first 10-GW photovoltaic base.

The State Grid Kashgar Power Supply Company has announced that the city has reached 10.242 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar capacity.

In a statement, the company said this installed capacity accounts for 75.7% of Kashgar's total power capacity. This marks the completion of Xinjiang's first 10-GW-level all-photovoltaic base.

With over 2,800 hours of annual sunshine and vast expanses of desert and Gobi land, the region has a solar energy potential of 200 GW, with 22.24 GW already approved.

Kashgar has accelerated large-scale new energy development, targeting "gigawatt-level projects at the county level and 10-gigawatt-level projects at the prefecture level." State Grid Kashgar Power Supply Company has also launched a "one-stop" service for the entire new energy grid connection process.

Amidst the surge in solar capacity, the city has invested $1.09b (CNY 7.8b) to the Kashgar 750 kilovolt double-ring grid reinforcement project, which will enhance power supply capacity by 5 GW upon completion. A hydro-PV-storage smart dispatching platform has also been established, utilising multi-objective flexible load control technology to achieve precise matching between new energy generation, high-load industries, and energy storage facilities.

Kashgar has also implemented a "source-grid-load-storage" development model for renewable energy integration.