KEITH BRADSHER2025年10月10日 By The New York TimesOn the Tibetan Plateau, nearly 10,000 feet high, solar panels stretch to the horizon and cover an area seven times the size of Manhattan. They soak up sunlight that is much brighter than at sea level because the air is so thin.在海拔近3000米的青藏高原上，光伏板绵延至天际，覆盖面积相当于曼哈顿的七倍。由于空气稀薄，这里的阳光比海平面更强烈，光伏板将其尽数吸纳。Wind turbines dot nearby ridgelines and stand in long rows across arid, empty plains above the occasional sheep herder with his flock. They capture night breezes, balancing the daytime power from the solar panels. Hydropower dams sit where rivers spill down long chasms at the edges of the plateau. And high-voltage power lines carry all this electricity to businesses and homes more than 1,000 miles away.附近的山脊上点缀着风力发电机；干旱空旷的平原上，它们成排矗立，偶尔能看到牧羊人带着羊群穿行其间。这些风机捕捉着夜晚的微风，与白天的太阳能形成了互补。在青藏高原边缘河流奔涌的狭长裂谷，坐落着水力发电站群。高压输电线路则将这些电力输送到上千公里外的企业和家庭。China is building an enormous network of clean energy industries on the Tibetan Plateau, the world’s highest. The intention is to harness the region’s bright sunshine, cold temperatures and sky-touching altitude to provide low-cost, renewable energy. The result is enough renewable energy to provide the plateau with nearly all of the power it needs, including for data centers used in China’s artificial intelligence development.中国正在青藏高原——这个世界上海拔最高的地区——建设一个庞大的清洁能源产业网络。其目标是利用该地区强烈的日照、低温环境及高海拔优势，打造低成本可再生能源体系。由此产生的清洁能源足以满足该高原地区近乎全部的用电需求，包括中国用于人工智能开发的数据中心集群。While China still burns as much coal as the rest of the world combined, last month President Xi Jinping made a stunning pledge. Speaking before the United Nations, he said for the first time that the country would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions across its economy and would expand renewable energy sixfold in coming years. It was a moment of global significance for the nation that is currently the world’s biggest polluter.尽管中国燃煤量仍然相当于世界其他国家总和，但上个月，习近平主席作出了一项外界瞩目的承诺。他在联合国发表的讲话中首次表示中国将在各个经济领域减少温室气体排放，并在未来数年将可再生能源扩大六倍。对于目前全球最大污染国中国来说，这是一个具有全球意义的时刻。China’s clean energy efforts contrast with the ambitions of the United States under the Trump administration, which is using its diplomatic and economic muscle to pressure other countries to buy more American gas, oil and coal. China is investing in cheaper solar and wind technology, along with batteries and electric vehicles, with the aim of becoming the world’s supplier of renewable energy and the products that rely on it.中国在清洁能源领域的努力与特朗普政府领导下的美国的雄心形成鲜明对比。特朗普政府正利用其外交和经济实力向其他国家施压，要求它们购买更多美国的天然气、石油和煤炭。中国则正在投资更廉价的太阳能和风能技术，以及电池和电动汽车，旨在成为全球可再生能源及其相关产品的供应国。The main group of solar farms, known as the Talatan Solar Park, dwarfs every other cluster of solar farms in the world. It covers 162 square miles in Gonghe County, an alpine desert in sparsely inhabited Qinghai, a province in western China.主要的太阳能电站群——塔拉滩光伏产业园的规模令全球其他光伏集群相形见绌。它已覆盖420平方公里，位于地广人稀的青海共和县的高寒荒漠地带。来源：Planet的卫星图像，2025年7月No other country on the planet is using high altitudes for solar, wind and hydropower on a scale as great as China’s on the Tibetan Plateau. The effort is a case study of how China has come to dominate the future of clean energy. With the help of substantial government-directed investment and planning, electricity companies are weaning the country off imported oil, natural gas and coal — a national priority.若论高海拔地区的光伏、风电、水电开发，中国在青藏高原的清洁能源开发规模在全球独占鳌头。这里可以作为中国如何主导未来清洁能源发展的一个典型案例。得益于政府主导的巨额投资与规划，中国的电力企业正逐步摆脱对进口石油、天然气及煤炭的依赖——这已被列为国家优先战略。Renewable energy helps China power 30,000 miles of high-speed train routes and its growing fleet of electric cars. At the same time, cheap electricity enables China to manufacture even more solar panels, which dominate global markets and power artificial intelligence data centers.可再生能源正为中国4.8万公里的高铁线路和不断增长的新能源汽车提供动力。与此同时，低廉的电力成本使中国能够制造更多主导全球市场的光伏板，并为人工智能数据中心提供充足的电力。Electricity from solar and wind power in Qinghai, which occupies the northern third of the Tibetan Plateau, costs about 40 percent less than coal-fired power. Qinghai encompasses most of a region known among Tibetans as Amdo and includes the birthplace of the current Dalai Lama, now in exile.在青藏高原北部三分之一的区域所在的青海省，太阳能与风力发电成本较燃煤发电低约40%。青海涵盖了藏人所称的安多地区的大部分，包括正流亡海外的现任达赖喇嘛的出生地。In July, China’s premier, Li Qiang, oversaw the groundbreaking of five additional dams on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in southern Tibet, a region of China that is tightly restricted by the Communist Party and not open to Western journalists. The Chinese government has released little information about the construction of the dams, but they are expected to take years to complete and would most likely constitute the world’s largest hydropower project. Its construction has alarmed India, which fears that China could use it to cut off water supplies to downstream areas of eastern India.今年7月，中国国务院总理李强主持了在西藏南部雅鲁藏布江上五座新水电站的开工仪式。该地区受到中共严格管控，禁止西方记者进入。中国政府未透露太多水坝建设细节，但预计完工需要多年时间，一旦建成，很可能成为世界上最大的水电工程。该项目的建设引发了印度的担忧，它担心中国可能借此切断印度东部下游地区的供水。China is not the first country to experiment with high-altitude clean energy. But other places as high as the Tibetan Plateau are mountainous and steep. Qinghai, slightly bigger than Texas, is mostly flat — optimal for solar panels and the roads needed to bring them in. And the cold air improves the efficiency of solar panels.中国并非第一个在高海拔地区试验清洁能源的国家。但其他与青藏高原海拔相当的地区往往是陡峭的山地。青海面积略大于得克萨斯州，却以平坦地势为主——这为光伏板的铺设及运输道路的建设提供了理想条件。高寒气候还能提升光伏板的发电效率。Switzerland has experimented with small solar power installations at the top of cable railways. It opened a solar power farm at an altitude of 5,940 feet, but it can generate only about 0.5 megawatts, enough to power about 80 American households.瑞士曾在缆车轨道上安装小型太阳能发电装置，并在海拔1800米处建了一座太阳能电站，但发电能力只有0.5兆瓦，仅可满足约80户美国家庭的用电。The state-owned Power Construction Corporation of China completed a 480-megawatt solar project last year at an altitude of 4,000 feet on the plateau of the Atacama Desert in Chile, which is the world’s driest nonpolar desert, but much lower than the Tibetan Plateau.中国的国有企业——中国电力建设集团去年在智利阿塔卡马沙漠高原完成了一个480兆瓦的太阳能项目。阿塔卡马沙漠是世界上最干旱的非极地沙漠，海拔约1200米，远低于青藏高原。Qinghai’s Talatan solar project dwarfs these. It has a capacity of 16,930 megawatts of power, which could run every household in Chicago. It is still expanding, adding panels with a target of growing to 10 times the area of Manhattan in three years. Another 4,700 megawatts of wind energy and 7,380 megawatts of hydroelectric dams are nearby.青海的塔拉滩光伏项目远远超过了这些项目的规模。它的装机容量高达16930兆瓦，足以满足芝加哥所有家庭的用电需求。该项目仍在扩建中，持续增加的光伏板预计在三年内将占地规模扩大至曼哈顿的十倍。此外，附近还有4700兆瓦的风能项目和7380兆瓦的水电设施。来源：Global Solar AtlasChina is now building at even higher elevations in mountain valleys on the Tibetan Plateau, although with smaller solar farms. Near Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, a Chinese power company recently installed 150 megawatts of solar panels at 17,000 feet.中国目前正在青藏高原海拔更高的山谷建设光伏项目，尽管这些光伏电站规模较小。在西藏首府拉萨附近，一家中国电力公司最近在海拔约5180米处安装了150兆瓦的光伏板。As an incentive to building solar farms, many western Chinese provinces initially offered free land to companies. The central government has recently ordered the provinces to begin charging nominal annual fees to encourage efficient use of the land.为了鼓励企业建设太阳能电站，中国西部的许多省份最初向企业免费提供土地。但中央政府最近下令各省开始征收象征性年费，以促进土地的利用效率。The Talatan solar project is on sandy soil with sparse vegetation used as grazing lands by ethnic Tibetan herders. The first panels installed at the site in 2012 were so low to the ground that sheep had trouble grazing under and around them. Now all panels are installed on higher mountings, said Liu Ta, the project’s manager.塔拉滩光伏项目建在植被稀疏的沙质土壤上，这里原来是藏族牧民的牧场。项目经理刘塔说，2012年最早安装的光伏板离地面太低，导致羊群难以在板下或板间吃草。如今，所有的光伏板都安装在支架上。Dislocating people for power projects is politically sensitive all over the world. But high-altitude projects affect relatively few people in sparsely populated settlements. China pushed more than one million people out of their homes in west-central China a quarter-century ago and flooded a vast area for the reservoir of the Three Gorges Dam. This year, China has been installing enough solar panels every three weeks to match the power generation capacity of that dam.因电力项目建设而重新安置居民在世界各地都是敏感的政治议题。不过，高海拔项目影响的人口相对较少，因为这些地区人口稀少。大约25年前，为了修建三峡大坝的水库——大片土地因此受淹，中国曾经将中西部地区的逾百万人重新安置。而今年，中国每三周新装光伏板的装机规模就足以媲美三峡大坝的发电量。Generating wind power on the plateau is trickier. At high altitudes, the winds blow fast, but the thin air doesn’t push wind turbine blades as effectively as thicker air closer to sea level.在高原发展风电则更为棘手。虽然高海拔地区的风力强劲，但由于空气稀薄，风力对风机叶片的推动效率不如低海拔地区的稠密空气。Still, the region has many wind turbines. Operators of the electricity grid try to balance the generation of solar power by day with wind power by night to maintain steady voltage and avoid blackouts.尽管如此，该地区仍建有大量风力发电机。电网运营商通过日间太阳能与夜间风能的协同发电，以维持电压稳定，防止供电中断。2023年，林芝市墨脱县境内的雅鲁藏布江一段。Qinghai Province sends excess solar power to Shaanxi Province in west-central China. In exchange, Qinghai tops off the wind power generated locally at night with small amounts of electricity generated by Shaanxi coal plants.青海省将富余的太阳能电力输送给中西部的陕西省。作为交换，当青海夜间风力发电不足时，则由陕西省的燃煤电厂提供少量电力进行补充。In addition, Qinghai is increasingly turning to hydropower to balance the plateau’s solar power, in the hopes of using less coal-fired power.此外，青海还越来越多地依靠水电来平衡高原上的太阳能发电，希望借此减少对燃煤电力的依赖。More than a decade ago, eight dams were built on the Yellow River as it drops 3,300 feet, flowing off the eastern side of the plateau and down into eastern China. More are under construction to balance and supplement the solar energy being generated in Qinghai Province.十多年前，黄河自青藏高原东坡流入中国东部落差超过1000米的河段上已建成八座水坝。目前仍有更多水坝在建设中，为青海省正在大力发展的太阳能发电提供平衡和补充。“When photovoltaic power is insufficient, I can use hydropower to make up for it,” said Zhu Yuanqing, power division director of the Qinghai Provincial Energy Bureau.青海省能源局电力处处长祝源清表示：“当光伏发电不足时，可以用水电来补充。”Two additional hydropower projects are being built in high mountain valleys near the Talatan Solar Park. The plan for both, Qinghai officials said, is to use excess solar power generated during the day to pump water up into the projects’ reservoirs several miles up. The water will be allowed to drop down through mountain tubes to the plateau at night, spinning giant turbines to generate immense amounts of electricity.塔拉滩光伏发电园区附近的高山峡谷中，另有两个水电项目正在建设。青海官员称，这两个项目的规划是：利用白天产生的多余光伏发电量，将水抽到几公里外的高位水库中；到了夜晚，让蓄水通过山间管道向下流回高原，驱动大型涡轮机产生大量电力。Several electricity-intensive industries are moving to the region to tap its inexpensive power. One is the task of turning quartzite from mines into polysilicon to make solar panels. Data centers for artificial intelligence are also drawn to the area.多个高耗能产业正迁至该地区，以利用当地廉价的电力资源。其中一项是将矿山开采的石英岩加工成用于制造太阳能电池板的多晶硅。人工智能数据中心也被吸引至此。Qinghai plans to increase its data center capacity more than five times by 2030. The facilities are in Xining, the provincial capital, at an altitude of 7,500 feet, and in Yushu and Guoluo, two chilly towns at an altitude over 12,000 feet.青海省计划到2030年将其数据中心算力提升逾五倍。这些数据中心分布在三个区域：海拔约2200米的省会西宁市，以及海拔约3600米、气候寒冷的玉树和果洛两地。The data centers consume 40 percent less electricity, their main operating cost, than similar ones at sea level because air-conditioning is barely needed, said Zhang Jingang, the executive vice governor of Qinghai. Air warmed by the data centers’ computer servers is circulated through underground pipes to heat other buildings in Yushu and Guoluo, replacing coal-fired boilers.青海省常务副省长张锦刚表示，这些数据中心的耗电量（运营的主要成本）比位于海平面地区的同类设施低40%，因为几乎无需使用空调制冷。此外，数据中心服务器产生的热空气会通过地下管道循环，为玉树和果洛的其他建筑供暖，取代传统的燃煤锅炉。Mr. Zhang spoke at a news conference in Xining as part of a government-organized media tour this summer of clean energy sites in Qinghai, which usually restricts foreign media access to hide dissent by its large ethnic Tibetan population. The New York Times paid for its own travel costs.张锦刚是在西宁的一场新闻发布会上作出上述表述的。此次发布会是今年夏季政府组织的青海清洁能源基地媒体考察活动的一部分——青海省通常会限制外国媒体进入，以掩盖其境内大量藏族人口的异议声音。《纽约时报》自己承担差旅费用进行了此次采访。To connect the data centers’ computing power to many of China’s technology companies, data is transferred from Shanghai to Qinghai on China’s national fiber-optic grid. The artificial intelligence programming of dancing humanoid robots for a televised gala during Lunar New Year in January was done at data centers in Qinghai.为将数据中心的算力与中国多家科技企业对接，数据通过中国国家光纤骨干网从上海传输至青海。今年1月春节期间，电视联欢晚会上跳舞的人形机器人的人工智能编程工作便是在青海的数据中心完成。青海省共和县塔拉滩光伏园区附近的高压输电线。But even fiber-optic cables do not provide quick enough communications for one of the fastest-growing computation needs in China: self-driving cars. The data centers for these cars are still in eastern China, where most of the population lives and drives.但对于中国增长最快的算力需求之一自动驾驶汽车而言，即便光纤电缆也无法提供足够快的通信速度。这类汽车的数据中心仍布局在人口和车辆最为密集的中国东部地区。“That kind of data center must not be placed in Qinghai,” Mr. Zhu said. “An accident may occur if you are not careful.”“所以那种数据中心肯定不敢放在青海，”祝源清表示。“稍微一不小心就出事故。”Li You自共和县对本文有研究贡献。Keith Bradsher是《纽约时报》北京分社社长，此前曾任上海分社社长、香港分社社长、底特律分社社长，以及华盛顿记者。他在新冠疫情期间常驻中国进行报道。翻译：纽约时报中文网点击查看本文英文版。