Start! 400km photovoltaic Great Wall

In the Kubuqi Desert in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, rows of photovoltaic panels are neatly arranged, like a blue canvas shining in the sea of ​​sand. However, in the past, "yellow sand covers the sky and there are no trees for birds to roost" was people's impression of this sea of ​​sand.

The Kubuqi Desert is the seventh largest desert in China. It is located in the north of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. It is about 400 kilometers long and about 50 kilometers wide at its widest point, with a total area of ​​about 14,100 square kilometers. At present, a "photovoltaic Great Wall" sand control scene is being staged in the Kubuqi Desert. It is planned that by 2030, a "blue sand control zone" about 400 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide on average will be built with photovoltaic panels on the south bank of the Yellow River and the northern edge of the Kubuqi Desert. At the construction site of the Shuofang New Energy Base project in the Kubuqi Desert, hundreds of bulldozers shuttled back and forth on 30,000 acres of mobile sand dunes. Workers leveled the sand dunes with a drop of 70 meters here to a drop of no more than 5 meters by shoveling and filling.

The project is located on the west side of the Kubuqi Desert, with a total investment of about 11.5 billion yuan. The planned total photovoltaic installed capacity is 13GW, and the nearest place to the Yellow River is only 5 kilometers away. Li Jinyu, the on-site person in charge of the Hangjin Banner Shuofang New Energy Base project, said: "The overall construction period of the project is about 3 years, and it is divided into three phases for construction. It covers an area of ​​about 487,000 mu and is the largest photovoltaic base in the northwest region. In the future, it will become a 'wall' to prevent wind and sand on the banks of the Yellow River." In the Dalate Banner Photovoltaic Power Generation Application Leading Base, dozens of kilometers away, photovoltaic panels are connected together, and the dark blue "Photovoltaic Great Wall" is shining. Li Kai, director of the Administrative Approval Office of the Dalate Banner Energy Bureau, introduced that the Dalate Banner Photovoltaic Power Generation Application Leading Base began construction in 2017 and consists of 196,000 photovoltaic panels. At present, all of them have been completed and put into production, generating up to 2 billion kWh of "green electricity" per year, saving 680,000 tons of standard coal per year, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.65 million tons and dust by 450,000 tons per year. In late autumn, grasslands in many parts of Inner Mongolia have turned yellow, but vegetation such as poplar, alfalfa, and oats in the Dalate Banner Photovoltaic Power Generation Application Leading Base are still growing lushly. Occasionally, some small animals can be seen running around under the photovoltaic panels, bringing vitality and hope to this barren desert.

The most scarce resource in the desert is water. In order to solve the water problem, a 500,000 cubic meter reservoir called "Moon Lake" was built in the Dalat Banner Photovoltaic Power Generation Application Leading Base. The wastewater generated by the nearby coal mines is transported here after being treated to meet the standards, and then the plants under the photovoltaic panels are irrigated by drip irrigation, allowing the green to continue to extend here.

Photovoltaic itself can achieve sand control, and the benefits of photovoltaics can also feed back to sand control. After implementing photovoltaic sand control, Dalat Banner gave priority to recommending surrounding farmers and herdsmen to participate in the project, allowing them to increase their income and become rich through various means such as renting sand, installing and cleaning photovoltaic panels, and participating in planting and breeding projects.