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 Beijing finds undesirable: drawing attention to the years-long repression of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, condemned by international organisations, and its impact on the renewable energy sector.

XXL solar power plant. And not just any. What CGDG and Power Construction Corp of China (PowerChina) recently put into operation is the largest solar farm on the planet, which went into operation last week. According to data published by the Reuters agency, the 3.5 GW facility covers 32,947 acres, equivalent to 13,333 hectares. The technicians chose the northwest of the country, in the Xinjiang autonomous region, to deploy it. More precisely, they have set their sights on a deserted area of ​​their capital, Urumqi.

Energy for a country. Those responsible estimate the plant will have a production capacity of about 6.09 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) a year, enough to power Papua New Guinea for 12 months, according to Reuters calculations. Other estimates suggest its capacity would meet almost all of Luxembourg’s registered 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 has the two largest solar power installations in the world: Ningxia Tennggeli from Longyuan Power Group and Qinghai Golmud Wutumeiren. Their capacity will be around 3 GW. The Asian giant also has some record-breaking 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 energy, which also includes mega-bases in sparsely populated areas from where the 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.

Debate affecting the industryIn 2021, Amnesty International (AI) spoke of the “mass incarceration, torture and systematic persecution” of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, a campaign orchestrated by the State that, in its view, constituted “crimes 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 also directly affect the renewable energy sector. In 2021, William Alan Reinsch and Seán Arrieta-Kenna pointed out at CSIS that a large portion of solar panel production relies on components made entirely in Xinjiang, which has focused attention 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 by Reinsch and Arrieta-Kenna, after recalling the region’s weight in the sector, notes that between 2010 and 2020, China’s footprint in global polysilicon production has grown exponentially from 26% to 82%, while the US has been losing ground at an equally accelerated pace. “According to Jenny Chase of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, ‘virtually 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 reiterated a report by consultancy Horizon Advisory that suggested links between Xinjiang’s growing photovoltaic sector and “a large programme of allocated work involving methods that fit documented forced labour patterns in China.” The study cites major companies in the sector and, according to information from the New York newspaper, always presents “indicators” of forced labour, workers transferred from points in Xinjiang with state support and even the implementation of “military-style training.”

““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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