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In arid areas of Ningxia, a Chinese project combines solar energy, agricultural cultivation, and soil recovery to test a way to contain the advance of sand without occupying fertile lands.
China has started using large solar plants as a tool to contain desertification in arid areas of the north and west of the country.
In Ningxia, an autonomous region in northwest China, photovoltaic panels installed on the ground reduce the direct incidence of the sun, help contain the action of the wind, and protect goji plantations cultivated under the structures.
The strategy is part of a national plan that aims to install 253 GW of solar energy between 2025 and 2030 to recover about 7,000 km² of degraded lands, according to information from Reuters and publications specialized in energy.
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The initiative was reported at a 1 gigawatt facility operated by Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group on the outskirts of Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia.
In the area, workers take care of goji shrubs under thousands of solar modules, in a place where the structures reduce soil exposure to heat and decrease moisture loss.
The company, which operates in the coal-related chemical sector, reported that it intends to build 30 GW of solar generation, part of which will be used in association with combating desertification.
According to Liu Yuanguan, vice president of the company, a similar project, also of 1 GW, is already in operation in Majiatan, in the same region.
During a visit organized by the Chinese government to the facility, he stated that the panels help create shade over the plants and soil.
“All the panels above are like small umbrellas,” said Liu.
According to the executive, this coverage reduces moisture evaporation in an area marked by a dry climate.
Solar energy in the desert helps protect goji plantations
The use of solar panels in the desert combines electricity generation with techniques for restoring degraded areas.
The structures decrease the direct incidence of solar radiation, reduce wind speed near the ground, and create less aggressive conditions for seeds, shrubs, and drought-resistant crops.
Besides the shade, the projects usually include barriers around the areas occupied by the plants to contain the movement of sand.
The vegetation introduced under the panels helps to fix the soil, while the photovoltaic structure itself reduces the surface’s exposure to wind-caused erosion.
According to the Ningxia government, this type of intervention can take up to five years to show visible results.
The technique does not replace traditional methods, such as planting trees and shrubs, but has started to be used alongside environmental recovery actions already adopted by the Chinese government.
Since the 1970s, the country has been carrying out campaigns to contain deserts and recover areas affected by sandstorms, loss of vegetation cover, and the advance of dunes over productive zones.
Three-North Program guides desertification combat in China
The initiative is linked to the program known as Three-North Shelterbelt, or Three-North Forest Belt Program, created in 1978 and planned to continue until 2050.
The project covers northern, northeastern, and northwestern China, regions that concentrate deserts, semi-arid areas, and zones subject to sandstorms.
In September 2025, solar energy was more explicitly incorporated into the revision of the Chinese desertification combat program, according to Reuters.
The presence of photovoltaic projects already appeared in previous planning documents but has now taken on a more defined role in the goals for recovering degraded lands.
The plan cited by specialized publications was prepared by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the National Energy Administration.
The goal is to install 253 GW of solar capacity and recover approximately 673,670 hectares by 2030, equivalent to about 6,700 km².
Reuters rounded the area to approximately 7,000 km², in a comparison made with about four times the size of Greater London.
Solar plants in arid areas reduce pressure on agricultural lands
The installation of panels in desert areas is also related to the dispute over land use.
In 2023, China issued rules to prevent the installation of solar panels on arable land, while the Chinese state press criticized the use of fertile areas for large photovoltaic projects.
The construction of part of these enterprises in arid regions reduces the pressure on areas intended for food production.
The availability of solar radiation also influences the choice of these locations.
Deserts and semi-arid regions usually record high light incidence and less competition for space than productive urban or rural areas.
On the other hand, projects in remote areas may require works to connect to the electrical grid, transmission planning, and environmental control measures to avoid new impacts on fragile ecosystems.
Specialized publications point out that the Chinese plan divides priority areas by climate zones and establishes rules for site selection, construction, and operation of the plants.
The official guideline is to combine ecological restoration and energy development, with criteria to prevent solar expansion from increasing soil degradation.
Desertification still occupies a significant part of Chinese territory
Despite decades of reforestation and soil recovery, desertification still occupies a significant portion of Chinese territory.
Official data cited by Reuters indicate that lands classified as desertified represented 26.8% of China’s area in 2024, compared to 27.2% a decade earlier.
The variation shows that the reversal of degradation occurs gradually in environments with low water availability.
In the Taklamakan Desert, in Xinjiang, China completed in November 2024 a green belt of about 3,000 kilometers around the area, after a campaign started 46 years ago.
According to Reuters, more than 30 million hectares of trees have been planted since the start of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program.
Even so, experts interviewed in reports on the subject point out limitations, such as low survival rates of some species and uncertain effects on sandstorms in distant cities, like Beijing.
In Baijitan, a nature reserve located a few hours from the Baofeng installation, decades of work have recovered about 800 km².
For Wang Xiaoling, the director of the area, the goal is not to eliminate deserts, but to reduce the damage caused by their expansion.
“It is a prolonged war to control the desert,” he stated. “We cannot say that we will eliminate it completely.”
Chinese renewable capacity advances alongside environmental projects
The advancement of solar projects in arid areas occurs amid the expansion of Chinese renewable capacity.
Data released by the National Development and Reform Commission indicate that the combined installed capacity of wind and photovoltaic generation in the country reached 1.67 billion kilowatts by the end of June 2025, surpassing thermal generation.
This growth helps explain why Beijing has begun to associate large solar works with other objectives, such as environmental recovery and the use of areas with low agricultural aptitude.
In the case of Ningxia, the panels not only have the function of generating electricity, but also integrate a soil protection system, goji cultivation, and sand containment.
The experiment conducted by Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group still represents a small part compared to the annual volume of solar installations in China.
Even so, the project shows how the country is testing models that combine energy production, desertification control, and agricultural use in dry regions.
