Photo taken on Sept. 14, 2020 shows the Kubuqi Desert in Hanggin Banner of Ordos of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Kubuqi Desert, located in the Ordos plateau, has an area of about 18,600 square kilometers. Once being totally barren and was called the "sea of death", the desert, however, now has a green area of more than 3,200 square kilometers thanks to the efforts of local people, enterprises and government. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Saturday launched a large-scale photovoltaic power construction project in the Kubuqi desert. It is estimated that it will realize a total installed capacity of approximately 2 GW.

Located in the city of Ordos, the project is expected to cover approximately 6,700 hectares and achieve its full grid-connected power generation capacity before the end of 2023.

With photovoltaic panels, the new base will integrate planting and breeding industries with green power generation, aiming to restore the local ecosystem while promoting rural revitalization.

Nearly 12 billion yuan (about 1.86 billion U.S. dollars) will be pooled for the project in a bid to better utilize and restore the desert, safeguard the ecological security of the Yellow River basin, and help the country achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality as promised.

The project will log an annual average of more than 4.1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of on-grid electricity, thus helping save over 1.25 million tonnes of standard coal or slash 3.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Situated in the Kubuqi desert, China's seventh-largest desert, the base is of great importance to the region's green and sustainable development in terms of its ecosystem, economy and society, according to Zhang Bin, deputy director of the region's energy bureau.