China's Xinjiang improves power supply for remote farmers, herdsmen

Aerial photo taken on June 14, 2020 shows an electric transmission tower in Datung Township of Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

URUMQI, July 3 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,500 households of farmers and herdsmen living in remote villages in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have benefited from a power supply project, local authorities said Friday.

Located in the deeply impoverished areas in southern Xinjiang, the households from 11 incorporated villages relied on photovoltaic power from 2014, with no stable power supply.

To address the problem, the power grid was upgraded with a total investment of 592 million yuan (about 83.77 million U.S. dollars) since June 2019. Power towers and wires have been installed deep into the Karakorum Mountains and the Taklimakan Desert.

A stable power supply in these areas is expected to help farmers and herdsmen develop local special industries. ■