Shi Jiuyun/Xinjiang Daily reporter Song Haibo
"It's the first time I tried to plant wormwood, and this year it's growing well, look at how big this head is and how fat the leaves are!" On September 23, in the photovoltaic base of the 134th Regiment of Shihezi City, the Eighth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, rows of photovoltaic panels were full of greenery, and the grower Wu Jianlong told reporters that this year he tried to plant 32 acres of wormwood under the photovoltaic panels, which grew well, and is now preparing for next year's breeding.
Growers check the growth of wormwood at the 134th regiment photovoltaic base. Photo by Shi Jiuyun/Xinjiang Daily reporter Song Haibo
The photovoltaic project is a 3GW photovoltaic project of China New Construction Power Group, and it is also the first "digital intelligent photovoltaic" project of the XPCC. With a total investment of about 4.7 billion yuan, the project achieved full-capacity grid-connected power generation in December last year, opening up green energy supply. Zhang Gaofeng, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and general manager of Zhongxin Power Group, said: "This project can contribute about 1.5 billion kilowatt hours of clean electricity to the society every year, which is equivalent to reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by the combustion of 500,000 tons of standard coal, and the carbon reduction effect is significant. ”
The staff of Zhongxinjian checked the operation of the equipment at the photovoltaic base of the 134th regiment. Photo by Shi Jiuyun/Xinjiang Daily reporter Song Haibo
The 134th Regiment, located on the edge of the Gurbantunggut Desert, is blessed with windy sand all year round, but its unique light conditions are very suitable for the development of photovoltaic power generation. During the construction of photovoltaic projects, due to the large temperature difference between morning and evening, water vapor condenses on the photovoltaic panels, and after the water drops on the land, it slowly sprouts green. Yan Lei, director of the centralized control center of Tianfu Energy Jinyang Company of China Xinjian Power Group, said: "The surrounding growers keenly seized the business opportunities and took the initiative to try to plant Chinese medicinal materials under the photovoltaic panels, and the company decided to waive the land rent for the first three years. ”
Guo Wei, 34, co-founded a planting cooperative with a friend, and they found that wormwood was in high demand in the domestic market and had a bright future for cultivation. When he learned that he could rent land at the photovoltaic base for free, he did not hesitate to sign up and try to grow wormwood.
"Wormwood has strong vitality, is cold and drought tolerant, and loves light, and has strong environmental adaptability." Guo Wei said that in order to ensure that the wormwood has access to sufficient water, they lay water pipelines in the soil under the photovoltaic panels and use drip irrigation technology for irrigation. Spraying and harvesting rely on mechanized operations, which ensure both efficiency and conditions for the growth of wormwood. At present, Guo Wei has harvested two stubbles of wormwood and successfully sold them to Henan and other places, achieving good economic benefits. He estimates that the yield of wormwood per mu can reach 600 kilograms, and the net income is about 1,500 yuan.
Huang Ling planted in the photovoltaic base of the 134th regiment. Photo by Shi Jiuyun/Xinjiang Daily reporter Song Haibo
Locally, the cultivation of Chinese medicinal herbs under photovoltaic panels not only improves land use efficiency, but also opens up new ways for local economic development. Up to now, the photovoltaic base has provided more than 500 acres of land to growers free of charge for planting a variety of medicinal materials including Huang Ling, wormwood, and radix banlangen. As the sun sets, the surrounding herdsmen drive their cattle and sheep to the photovoltaic base and eat leisurely on the grass under the photovoltaic panels. Zhang Gaofeng said that the photovoltaic base covers an area of more than 12,000 acres, and will continue to provide land leasing services to surrounding growers next year. With the further optimization of the power supply system, it will also expand its service scope and continue to provide clean energy for the soldiers.