The vitality of Xinjiang's new energy industry is bursting forth

From the vast Gobi of the Junggar Basin, to the edge of the Taklamakan Desert, rows upon rows of towering wind-turbine blades turn in the wind; sheet after sheet of deep-blue solar photovoltaic panels track the sun day by day… By the end of 2025, Xinjiang’s new energy installed capacity will exceed 160 million kW, accounting for 64% of the total installed power capacity.

Where the wind rises over the Gobi, where the Tianshan Mountains shine. In recent years, Xinjiang has closely aligned with the strategic positioning of “a national energy resource strategic guarantee base.” Building on what the country needs, what Xinjiang can deliver, and what the people hope for, it focuses on ensuring national energy security and serving the overall drive for nationwide green and low-carbon development. With full efforts, Xinjiang is promoting the high-quality development of new energy, accelerating the construction of the new era national “three bases and one corridor” and large-scale clean energy bases, and its energy-security assurance capability has improved significantly.

Energy’s map moves toward “green”

Driving along the edge of the Taklamakan Desert within the borders of Ruoqiang County in the Bayingol Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, amid the vast sea of sand, sheet after sheet of deep-blue photovoltaic panels spreads out like waves all the way to the horizon. This is a 4-million-kW photovoltaic project site.

“Our project is not only an energy base, but also a testing ground for the integration of ecology and technology.” Pointing to the “solar photovoltaic ocean” in front of him—covering an area of about 76 square kilometers—project head Guo Xiaoyang said the project entered full-capacity commercial operation on May 29, 2025. With designed annual electricity generation exceeding 6.9 billion kWh, it can meet the annual electricity needs of 2 million households. The project’s construction not only creates jobs for more than 10,000 people, but also explores an ecological model of “power generation on the panels and restoration beneath them,” bringing new life to the Gobi.

Moving the viewpoint north, on the north side of the Yanhuting Service Area of the Lianhuo Expressway, more than a hundred “wind power giants” stand facing the wind. This is Xinjiang’s first clean energy base featuring multi-energy complementarity of “wind, solar, thermal, and storage”—the Huadian Beijiang Urumqi million-kW wind and solar base.

“Since the ‘14th Five-Year Plan’ period, we have actively served national strategies. Focusing on the positioning of the Huadian Xinjiang strategic clean energy base, we are accelerating green and low-carbon development. We have built and brought into operation the Gobi energy base along the northern foothills of Tianshan in Xinjiang, and large wind and photovoltaic bases of the third batches of national ‘shagehuang’—and other projects. The foundation for high-quality development is stronger, the base color is greener, the value is better, and the momentum is stronger.” Wu Di, deputy chief economist of Huadian Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., introduced that the company’s current installed capacity in Xinjiang reaches 41.278 million kW, of which the share of clean energy installed capacity is nearly 60%.

In recent years, Xinjiang has upheld overall planning and coordination by establishing an energy leadership group for the autonomous region, and by drafting and implementing a plan for building a new-type electric power system for the autonomous region, promoting integrated and interactive development of “source, grid, load, storage, carbon, and data.”

According to data from State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., by the end of 2025, Xinjiang’s new energy installed capacity will exceed 160 million kW, making it the largest power source in Xinjiang and the main driver of incremental electricity generation. In 2025, Xinjiang’s new energy electricity generation reached 146.7 billion kWh, up 22.3% year on year, equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 119 million tons.

“This set of figures indicates that Xinjiang’s energy mix has undergone a fundamental transformation.” Yang Guixing, head of the main grid planning division in the development and planning department of State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., said that with a batch of demonstration projects such as the green, smart self-healing intelligent microgrid in Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County having come into operation, Xinjiang has basically formed a green energy supply system characterized by multi-energy complementarity and regional coordination.

Strengthening the foundation to promote green power utilization

Generating well is not enough—you also need to deliver it and use it. Faced with the challenge of the volatility of new energy that “depends on the weather,” Xinjiang has adhered to diversified utilization, applying force in both directions in “sending power out and consuming it within” and in “regulation and storage.”

On the construction of the major “Xinjiang Power Export” lifeline arteries, Xinjiang has been running at full speed. Currently, the first, second, and third ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission corridors for “Xinjiang Power Export,” as well as two 750-kV inter-provincial (regional) alternating-current transmission corridors, are operating efficiently.

“Xinjiang has formed a transmission corridor layout of ‘two AC and three DC.’ Its export capacity exceeds 30 million kW.” Song Xueqiang, director of the trading department of Xinjiang Power Exchange Center Co., Ltd., introduced that in 2025, the exported electricity from “Xinjiang Power Export” exceeded 141 billion kWh. Among it, the exported electricity from new energy accounted for more than one-third. Green electricity is being delivered to 22 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) across the country without interruption, making an important contribution to safeguarding national energy security and promoting the energy transition.

Xinjiang is speeding up the construction of the fourth corridor for “Xinjiang Power Export” power-supply bases and the 750-kV power transmission and transformation project of Ruoqiang–Huatugou in Qinghai. With full efforts, Xinjiang is pushing for the approval of the ±800-kV Ruoqiang–Sichuan-Chongqing UHVDC project, aiming to form a “three AC and four DC” layout in 2027.

At the same time, Xinjiang is accelerating the construction of a new-type electric power system. Huadian Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd. is advancing deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation. It is promoting grid-forming energy storage methods such as all-vanadium flow batteries, compressed carbon dioxide, and flywheels, and has demonstrated completion of two large independent energy-storage power stations in Urumqi and Kashgar.

Today, the “stabilizer” role of 31 energy-storage power stations with a total capacity of 4.24 million kW / 15.65 million kWh continues to stand out. In 2025, Xinjiang’s new-type energy storage installed capacity reached 20.1504 million kW / 70.5376 million kWh.

Meanwhile, Gao Bo, deputy general manager of Xinjiang Power Exchange Center Co., Ltd., said that Xinjiang has already formed an electricity medium- and long-term market trading mechanism covering all entities, all product types, and all time periods. With the continuing improvement of the mechanism, more Xinjiang electricity will be guided into the market, helping local resource advantages to be converted more effectively.

Industrial ecosystems form into clusters

The booming development of Xinjiang’s new energy industry is inseparable from the “soft environment” support from institutional and policy mechanisms and the “hard support” of technological manufacturing.

In terms of policy supply, in 2024, Xinjiang delegated the filing and approval authority for wind and photovoltaic projects to prefectures (prefecture-level cities) and cities, enabling “one network for all applications.” In 2025, Xinjiang issued the notice “On Improving the Resilience of New Energy Development and Accelerating the Building of a New-Type Electric Power System,” which, from multiple dimensions such as improving industrial policies, stabilizing market expectations, and optimizing the business environment, proposes six aspects and 21 specific policy measures, injecting new momentum into the development of the new energy industry.

Technology and equipment manufacturing are important support for the thriving development of the new energy industry. Inside the production workshop of Xinjiang Dongfang Wind Power New Energy Co., Ltd. in Mulei Kazakh Autonomous County, large machines run at full throttle and at high speed. In the wind power main unit assembly area, technical backbones are leading teams to connect key components such as generators and transmission chains.

Currently, the local new energy equipment manufacturing industry has formed an industrial chain covering more than 10 product types, including wind power main units, blades, tower sections, photovoltaic modules, inverters, combiner boxes, and energy storage batteries. The products not only supply local projects, but are also sold across the country.

Wang Jun, member of the Standing Committee and deputy county magistrate of Mulei County, said, “During the ‘14th Five-Year Plan’ period, we will continue to seek breakthroughs in equipment manufacturing, green power utilization, and direct-supply applications. We will build a green industrial cluster, so that the boundless ‘wind and sunshine’ can be transformed into sustained momentum for high-quality development, truly making the county stronger and enriching the people.”

A reporter learned from the Department of Industry and Information Technology of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region that Xinjiang has built a relatively complete wind power equipment manufacturing industrial chain, and the output of wind turbines ranks among the top in the country. At the same time, Xinjiang’s output of industrial silicon and polycrystalline silicon remains among the top in the country.

Song Xueqiang said, “New energy has laid a ‘green foundation’ for economic development in Xinjiang and unleashed tremendous ‘green’ development momentum. It not only has strongly promoted Xinjiang’s green and low-carbon transition and high-quality development, but has also effectively helped the local community better improve people’s wellbeing and gather public support and unity of purpose.”