Construction of Southern Xinjiang’s New Power System Demonstration Zone Enters New Phase
KASHGAR, China, June 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — On May 30, with the full-capacity grid connection of projects like the Huadian Kashgar Jiashi 300 MW Ecological Management Integrated Photovoltaic Power Station, the installed photovoltaic capacity in Kashgar reached a historic milestone of 10.242 GW, accounting for 75.7% of Kashgar’s total power capacity. This marks the completion of Xinjiang’s first 10-GW-level all-photovoltaic base, signifying a major breakthrough in Kashgar’s new energy development and serving as a landmark achievement in building Southern Xinjiang’s new power system demonstration zone.
Located on the western edge of the Taklimakan Desert, Kashgar enjoys over 2,800 hours of annual sunshine and vast expanses of desert and Gobi land, providing natural advantages for constructing ultra-large-scale photovoltaic bases. The region’s exploitable photovoltaic potential is estimated at 200 GW, with 22.24 GW already approved. In recent years, guided by China’s “dual carbon” goals and Xinjiang’s new energy system plan, 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 innovatively launched a “one-stop” service for the entire new energy grid connection process. By establishing flexible teams and opening green channels, it efficiently resolves challenges such as project land use and grid access. In 2024, 14.6 GW of registered photovoltaic projects are accelerating their implementation, reflecting an “explosive growth” trend in Kashgar’s new energy sector.
To address the grid absorption pressure from surging photovoltaic capacity, Kashgar’s power grid has focused on “strengthening backbone infrastructure and optimizing dispatching” to build a new power system support framework. A 7.8-billion-yuan investment is advancing the Kashgar 750 kV double-ring grid reinforcement project, which will enhance power supply capacity by 5 GW upon completion. An integrated “hydro-PV-storage” smart dispatching platform has been established, utilizing multi-objective flexible load control technology to achieve precise matching between new energy generation, high-load industries, and energy storage facilities.
To tackle the challenges of high-penetration renewable integration, Kashgar has pioneered a coordinated “source-grid-load-storage” development model. Peak-shaving through energy storage is advancing on multiple fronts: a 200 MW electrochemical independent energy storage system was completed in 2024, while the 1.4 GW Tashkurgan pumped hydro project progresses, alongside pilot grid-forming energy storage projects—boosting system regulation capacity by 30%. Multi-energy complementarity optimizes structure: leveraging the Yarkant River’s “one reservoir, six cascades” hydropower and the 1.4 GW pumped storage project, a “hydro-PV-thermal-storage” integrated system enables flexible operation—photovoltaic supplementation during dry seasons and hydropower peak-shaving during wet seasons. Digitalization empowers the smart grid: a new smart dispatching control system enables online monitoring and AI-driven decision-making, achieving coordinated “PV-storage” operation and second-level fault response, steadily enhancing grid stability.
Simultaneously, Kashgar is securing specialized investments for six key areas: photovoltaic desert-control ecological projects, border microgrid demonstrations, high-load industry absorption, and international energy cooperation. It explores new ecological models like “power generation atop panels, sand fixation beneath panels,” promotes “PV-storage microgrids” in remote border areas to benefit residents, and attracts industries like steel smelting and green hydrogen production—transforming resource advantages into economic gains.
Kashgar is evolving from the “Pearl of the Silk Road” into the “Central Asian Photovoltaic Valley,” injecting new momentum into building a green energy corridor for the Belt and Road Initiative.
