On the dispatch screen of Northwest Power Grid on August 4, 2026, the digital output jumped all the way to 123.87 million kilowatts, and the maximum output of photovoltaics reached a historical high. At this moment, photovoltaic power generation accounts for 55% of the total output of the entire network, steadily supporting the daily power supply in the northwest region with an absolute dominant position.

Photovoltaic installation historically surpasses thermal power

As the region with the richest solar energy resources in China, the contiguous photovoltaic panels on the Gobi Desert in the northwest are continuously releasing green energy. From January to July 2026, the Northwest Power Grid added 11.21 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power generation installed capacity. As of the end of July, the total installed capacity of photovoltaics in the entire grid exceeded 250 million kilowatts, accounting for 34% of the total installed power generation. This proportion has surpassed thermal power for the first time in history, marking a key green iteration of the Northwest power structure.

From the perspective of power generation, the photovoltaic power generation of the northwest power grid reached 161.7 billion kilowatt hours in the first seven months, accounting for 25.8% of the total electricity consumption in the northwest region, an increase of 4.1 percentage points compared to the same period in 2025. More than one kilowatt hour of green electricity comes from photovoltaics in every four kilowatt hours of electricity. On that day, the maximum output of photovoltaics accounted for 93% of the total output of new energy, and photovoltaic power generation has completely grown from a supplementary energy source to a core main power source supporting regional power operation.

Scheduling upgrade ensures high proportion of consumption

The Northwest Branch of State Grid Corporation of China continues to optimize its new energy grid connection services and accelerate the grid connection and operation of the large-scale wind and photovoltaic base in Shagehuang. Currently, the accuracy of new energy generation forecasting has stabilized at 97%, significantly reducing the impact of high proportion of new energy access on grid operation.

The division continues to upgrade the transmission capacity of important transmission channels and sections, and through multiple scheduling methods such as cross regional mutual assistance and source grid load storage coordination, maximizes the level of on-site and external consumption of new energy. From January to July 2026, the overall consumption and utilization rate of new energy in the Northwest Power Grid will reach 96.8%, an increase of 1.2 percentage points year-on-year, and the curtailment rate will be controlled within 3%, leading the country.

The leapfrog development of the photovoltaic industry in Northwest China, from the unstable power source that relied on the weather for survival in the past to the main power source that can steadily support more than half of the output of the entire network, is the most vivid practical example of building a new type of power system in China. On the vast Gobi Desert in Northwest China, photovoltaic panels are continuously converting abundant sunlight resources into a continuous stream of green electricity, injecting a continuous stream of low-carbon energy into the region's high-quality development, and accumulating valuable Northwest experience for the operation of the country's high proportion new energy grid.Editor/Cheng Liting