For two years, China has repeatedly laid out two of its biggest obsessions: mega-construction and renewables, a sector that stands out for both its manufacturing capacity and its weight in the supply chain. In Xinjiang, it has gained strength with both. Just a few days ago, a state-owned company connected the world’s largest solar farm here, a massive 3.5-gigawatt facility that covers more than 13,300 hectares and could power the entirety of Papua New Guinea or Luxembourg.

But the farm has an effect that is less than desired by Beijing: drawing attention to the oppression of Uyghur people in Xinjiang, which has been condemned for years by international organizations, and its impact on the renewable energy sector.

XXL solar plant. And not just anyone. What CGDG and Power Construction Corp of China (PowerChina) have recently launched is the largest solar farm on the planet, which went into operation last week. According to data published by Reuters agency, the 3.5 GW facility spreads over an area of ​​32,947 decares, which is equivalent to 13,333 hectares. Technicians chose the country’s northwest, the Xinjiang autonomous region, to deploy it. More precisely, they set their sights on a desert area of ​​their capital, Urumqi.

Energy for a country. Officials estimate the plant will have a production capacity of about 6.09 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) per year, enough to power Papua New Guinea for 12 months, according to Reuters calculations. Other estimates suggest its capacity will meet almost all of Luxembourg’s recorded electricity demand.

Its power will further strengthen China’s renewable energy generation, which is set to see a significant recovery in 2023. Data released by the National Energy Agency in January showed that installed solar generation capacity nationwide increased by 55.2% in 2023.

China expands footprint. The fact is that China already had the two largest solar installations in the world: Longyuan Power Group’s Ningxia Tennggeli and Qinghai Golmud Wutumeiren. Its capacity will be around 3 GW. The Asian giant also has some record facilities for floating wind or photovoltaic generation. In fact, the Xinjiang park is part of an even larger project to install 455 GW of solar and wind power, which also includes mega-bases in sparsely populated areas from which energy is sent to urban centers.

What it is and how much it is, is important… And where. The new solar farm is located in the desert region of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which stands out on China’s solar and wind energy map. Because of its weight. And also because of the controversy that accompanies it. In the region, important infrastructures and record infrastructures dedicated to renewable energy, such as Urumqi Dabancheng, have been promoted, but Xinjiang is also in the international spotlight due to the oppression that Uyghurs are subjected to here, according to different international organizations.

Controversy affecting the industry. Amnesty International (AI) spoke of “mass incarceration, torture and systematic persecution” of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang in 2021, a campaign orchestrated by the State that, in its view, constitutes a “crime against humanity”. The UN itself published a report in 2022. Xinjiang He warned of “serious human rights violations” against Uighurs and other Muslim communities.

What happens in Xinjiang will directly affect the renewable energy sector. In 2021, William Alan Reinsch and Seán Arrieta-Kenna pointed out at CSIS that a large part of solar panel production depends on components produced precisely in Xinjiang, which focused the focus on the conditions offered to workers there. Their article was originally titled “A dark spot for the solar industry: Forced labor in Xinjiang.”

Origin of polysilicon“Residential, commercial and utility solar panels rely on photovoltaic (PV) cells to absorb sunlight and convert it into usable energy. Most photovoltaic cells are made with polysilicon components, and they are manufactured using a furnace process industrial sector that requires extremely high temperatures. Xinjiang, China, has the cheapest energy thanks to its abundance of local coal, and is home to four of the world’s five largest factories.

The article prepared by Reinsch and Arrieta-Kenna, after reminding the region’s weight in the sector, states that between 2010 and 2020, China’s footprint in global polysilicon production increased exponentially from 26% to 82%, while the USA lost ground at an equal rate. accelerated speed. “According to Jenny Chase of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, ‘nearly all silicon-based solar modules (at least 95% of the market) likely contain some Xinjiang silicon.'”

Connection with Xinjiang. At the beginning of the same year New York Times He echoed a report by consultancy Horizon Advisory that suggested links between Xinjiang’s growing photovoltaics sector and “a broad dedicated labor program involving methods that fit documented patterns of forced labor in China.” The study touches on important companies in the sector and presents “indicators” of forced labor, employees transferred from points in Xinjiang with state support, and even the application of “military style”, always according to information obtained from the New York newspaper. education. “.

““Extensive and growing evidence”. And they’re not the only ones. Sheffield Hallam University even produced a study that, in its view, “reveals how forced labour in the Uyghur region can permeate the entire supply chain and reach international markets.” Solar energy, its researchers say, is a “particularly vulnerable” sector to being linked to the practice, as polysilicon producers in the region account for 45% of the global supply of solar-grade materials, and they warn that employment programs are being implemented “in an environment of unprecedented pressure” and under “ongoing threat.”

In the order of the dayConcerns about the impact of such work continue to hover over China’s renewable energy sector, as Semafor and Sourcing Journal recently reported , warning a few months ago that the solar industry or electric cars were “highly exposed.” There are also risks of forced labor due to Xinjiang’s significant weight in the supply chain for lithium, nickel and graphite used in solar-grade polysilicon and lithium-ion batteries for vehicles. There are already voices from the sector, such as Skyline International, calling for greater transparency across the supply chain.

Image | PowerChina

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