ALONG the road in the mountains towards the Pamir Plateau in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the elevation has thinner air and warmer sunshine.

On the flat ground at the foot of the Karakoram Mountains, a range of blue-black photovoltaic panels are laid in rows on the plateau, receiving power from the sun.

Here is a poverty alleviation photovoltaic power plant located about 25 km southeast of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County in the Kashgar region, Xinjiang.

“It is very suitable here for the development of photovoltaic power generation with high altitude and the advantage of sunlight resources,” said Yan Yuzhi, an engineer at the power plant.

The photovoltaic power plant, covering an area of 635 mu (about 42 hectares), is located about 3,300 meters above sea level, said Yan, noting that there are 77,760 photovoltaic modules at the power plant.

About 40 million kWh of electricity is generated annually. The power generated by the plant is delivered to the county along a 30 km-long transmission line to provide clean energy for local people.

Photovoltaic power drives the county toward prosperity. In 2017, Shenzhen Energy signed a cooperation agreement with the Shenzhen city government and Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County government on a 20 MW photovoltaic project to help poverty alleviation and rural revitalization of the county.

In May 2018, the photovoltaic power plant was successfully connected to the grid. By the end of October 2023, both the cumulative power generation and the on-grid power of the plant have exceeded 200 million kWh.

According to the current electricity price for poverty alleviation, the annual profit and tax of the photovoltaic power plant is nearly 10 million yuan (US$1.38 million), and the allocable profit for the county reaches 76 million yuan.

The power plant is expected to achieve the employment of 18,608 people from 4,140 households in the county, according to Yan, as well as promote the rural collective economy of the county’s 47 villages. (Xinhua)