Inner Mongolia expands solar and wind as coal remains key

Both renewables and coal will keep rising, officials say

Inner Mongolia’s energy landscape mirrors China as a whole, with the region emerging as the nation’s largest base for both renewable energy generation and coal production, according to energy experts who characterize the strategy as an “all-of-the-above” approach.

In the Ordos region, the Dalad Banner solar farm’s over 3 million panels stretch across the desert, laid out in the shape of a galloping horse that references the area’s nomadic heritage.

A short drive away stands one of the region’s many coal-fired power plants, which sends electricity 700 kilometers (435 miles) to Beijing. The close proximity of the two projects embodies the “all-of-the-above” approach, experts said.

Officials said renewable energy is beginning to replace existing demand conventionally provided by coal, but that both sources will continue to rise for now. Coal remains necessary, they said, to supplement wind and solar when weather causes interruptions.

Officials said the transition requires that coal plants ramp down when renewable output is abundant and ramp up when it is not.