On September 2, autumn rain fell on the Tengger Desert in Ningxia, a land long accustomed to drought. This time, however, the rain did not simply vanish into the sand. Thanks to the presence of desert areas, the Gobi, and other arid areas New Energy Base, the water was channeled through photovoltaic panel drains into storage facilities, where it is used to irrigate desert plants, making efficient use of scarce water resources.
The base is China’s largest desert areas, the Gobi, and other arid areas new energy facility and serves as the core supporting project for the “Ningxia Power to Hunan” ultra-high-voltage transmission line—the first officially approved channel dedicated to delivering clean energy from large-scale desert-based photovoltaic plants. The base follows a model of “power generation on the panels, planting between the panels, and ecological restoration beneath the panels”.
“Biological soil crusts are woven together by algae, lichens, mosses and microorganisms. They are like the desert’s ‘skin,’ stabilizing shifting sand dunes and preserving the ecological foundation,” explained Lin Kai, head of ecological management at the base. To accelerate the spread of this “skin”, the base has partnered with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other research institutions to design a tailored vegetation protection and ecological restoration plan. Measures include using straw grids to stabilize sand, sowing drought-tolerant grass seeds, and planting shrubs such as desert willows to build a strong ecological barrier.
After two years of restoration, vegetation coverage at the base has increased from less than 0.5 percent to 20 percent, with some areas exceeding 50 percent. Data show that wind speed within the photovoltaic zone has decreased by 50 percent, air humidity has risen by 7.9 percent, and sand and dust levels have fallen by 80 percent.
The base has pioneered the application of biological soil crust technology, compressing an ecological restoration process that would normally take a decade into just three years. A 500-mu demonstration site has already been completed, where experiments in sand-fixing plants and soil improvement are underway. Together, these efforts are building an integrated development model of “desert photovoltaics + ecological restoration + sand-based industries”.
