China’s Renewable Revolution and Its Human Cost

13 Oct, 2025

By Eli Sachs

China is constructing the world's largest solar farm on the Tibetan Plateau, spanning 610 square kilometers, an area roughly the size of Chicago or seven times larger than Manhattan. The Talatan Solar Park in Gonghe County, Qinghai province, will house over 7 million solar panels when completed, generating enough electricity to power 5 million households. Positioned nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, the facility capitalizes on the plateau's thin atmosphere, which allows significantly more intense solar radiation to reach the panels, enhancing energy production efficiency.

The project is part of China's ambitious renewable energy expansion, which has begun yielding measurable results. China's carbon emissions fell by 1% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, marking what researchers describe as a potential structural decline rather than a temporary dip. In just the first six months of 2025, China installed 212 gigawatts of solar capacity, exceeding the entire solar capacity of the United States.

Despite the climate benefits, the renewable energy boom on the Tibetan Plateau has raised serious concerns among human rights advocates and environmental groups. The rapid expansion of solar and wind installations threatens to disrupt wildlife habitats, migratory patterns, and the region's fragile ecosystem. Large-scale solar facilities can lead to land degradation and habitat fragmentation, potentially affecting local biodiversity in one of the world's most ecologically sensitive regions.

"The Tibet generated power is transmitted to Mainland China to its lighthouses and to run its machines even as large parts of Tibet go dark in the night," noted one analysis of China's energy policy.

Critics argue that while China touts the environmental benefits of these projects, the primary beneficiaries are eastern Chinese cities and industrial centers, not Tibetan communities. The power grid has been deliberately connected to central China through the West-to-East Power transmission project, converting Tibet into an energy exporter.

The renewable energy projects are part of a broader pattern of development in Tibet that has displaced hundreds of thousands of Tibetans. Between 2000 and 2025, an estimated 930,000 rural Tibetans were displaced due to various development projects. These displacements have occurred without meaningful consultation or free, prior, and informed consent from affected communities.​

The situation has become more acute with China's hydropower ambitions. In July 2025, China began construction on what it claims will be the world's largest hydropower dam on the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet, with an estimated cost of $170 billion. The project has sparked international concern, particularly from downstream nations India and Bangladesh, and has led to protests within Tibet that were met with harsh crackdowns.​

Thirteen UN human rights experts issued a statement in 2024 expressing deep concern over China's hydropower policy in Tibet, warning of "dire and irreversible environmental and climate impacts that the dams could cause in the Tibetan plateau, to China and the region". The experts noted that relocation of Tibetans from ancestral lands would adversely impact their rights to development, self-determination, maintenance of traditional ways of life, and access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.​

"China's crackdown on peaceful opposition to this dam project is part of a broader campaign to suppress Tibetan voices and erase our culture," stated Pema Doma of Students for a Free Tibet.

The UN experts also highlighted the "reprisals, use of force, arbitrary arrests and detentions—for some incommunicado—of hundreds of Tibetans" who exercised their basic human rights to oppose the dam projects. They called for independent, adequate, and comprehensive environmental and human rights impact assessments before any construction proceeds.​

Research indicates that many solar installations in Tibet serve dual purposes, supporting both civilian energy needs and military logistics. The proximity of several solar projects to military installations suggests a deliberate strategy to enhance regional energy security while supporting national defense objectives. This dual-use character is evident in both large-scale and tactical systems that meet the logistical requirements of the People's Liberation Army.

Despite the massive scale of renewable energy production, significant challenges remain in distributing this power effectively. China's electricity grid was designed for the consistent output of coal plants rather than the variable production of wind and solar energy. The curtailment rate for solar energy in Tibet surged to 33.9% in the first half of 2025, up from 5.1% the previous year, meaning a third of generated power went unused due to grid limitations.​

Construction of ultra-high-voltage transmission lines spanning thousands of miles is underway to connect the plateau's power generation to eastern population centers. However, this infrastructure development requires major adjustments to coal plant operations and transmission network management.​

China has committed to reaching a carbon peak by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, with Tibet playing a central role in meeting these targets. President Xi Jinping announced in September 2025, before the United Nations, that China would reduce greenhouse gas emissions across its economy and expand renewable energy capacity sixfold in the coming years.​

Yet the human and environmental costs of this transition remain largely unacknowledged by Chinese authorities. Tibet's power consumption increased by 314% between 2012 and 2022, driven partly by the influx of Han Chinese migration and the forced relocation of semi-nomadic and agricultural Tibetans into urban centers. The region's transformation into an energy production hub serves national economic interests while potentially undermining the cultural survival and self-determination of Tibetan communities.​

The Tibetan Plateau solar megaproject shows how these projects can perpetuate patterns of displacement, environmental degradation, and human rights violations when implemented with blatant disregard for the local population.​

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