Ningxia, covering 66,400 square kilometers and nestled along the Yellow River, boasts picturesque landscapes blending mountains and water. Following the development blueprint outlined for its modernization, local cadres and residents have delivered remarkable achievements in green growth and energy transition during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
As the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, Ningxia advances its strategy of building a robust energy region and pursues green, secure energy development. It promotes diversified utilization of coal, oil, gas and silicon, complementary integration of wind, solar, hydro and thermal power, and coordinated development of hydrogen production, energy storage, power transmission and end consumption. The region targets a total installed power capacity of 110 GW with new energy accounting for over 65% and doubled energy storage capacity. Sixteen new 750kV and 330kV power grid projects will be constructed to boost the utilization rate and green power ratio of power transmission corridors. An investment of CNY 250 billion will fund four green power industrial parks focusing on modern coal chemical industry, silicon-based materials, aluminum-manganese materials and big data computing, accelerating the construction of a new energy system and a national comprehensive new energy demonstration zone.
Ningxia’s traditional energy sector is undergoing an innovation-driven green transformation, breaking the old model of simple coal mining and combustion. It evolves from resource-depleted mining areas to circular industrial hubs, shifting from crude black coal resources to clean green power.
The Ningdong Energy and Chemical Base is revolutionizing conventional coal chemical manufacturing by integrating coal resources with green low-carbon development. A new industrial model combining coal chemicals, green hydrogen and CO₂ capture has been fully implemented. Green hydrogen produced from abundant wind and solar resources is coupled with coal chemical processes, drastically cutting carbon emissions and extending high-value industrial chains.
The Qingshanying Hydrogen Production Plant, Phase I of the Ningdong Renewable Hydrogen Carbon Reduction Demonstration Zone developed by China Energy Investment Group, successfully produced qualified renewable hydrogen in September 2024. It adopts photovoltaic water electrolysis technology to generate hydrogen purified to 99.999%, which is pressurized and piped to the coal-to-ammonia facility to replace grey hydrogen, realizing coal substitution and carbon reduction via green hydrogen.
Sinopec Great Wall Energy & Chemical (Ningxia) will construct the world’s largest industrial demonstration facility for CO₂ chemical looping mineralization, with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons and a CO₂ absorption rate exceeding 90%, transforming Ningdong from a major carbon emitter into a carbon sequestration pioneer.
Over 200 construction projects with an annual planned investment of CNY 36 billion are underway at Ningdong Base, including seven mega projects worth over CNY 10 billion each. Investment in emerging industries accounts for 39.1% of total capital inflows, with newly introduced projects totaling over CNY 50 billion. Funds are concentrated on advanced new materials and biomedicine clusters instead of redundant low-end capacity.
Now Ningxia operates China’s leading modern coal chemical demonstration zone and the world’s largest production base for coal-to-oil and coal-to-olefin products, integrating coal mining, power generation, petrochemicals, fine chemicals, new materials and clean energy sectors.
China Energy Investment Group’s 4-million-ton coal-to-oil project, the world’s single largest facility of its kind, has produced more than 32 million tons of oil and chemical products and converted over 200 million tons of coal since commissioning in 2016. Its ten-thousand-ton alpha-olefin separation unit achieved successful one-time commissioning in January 2026, yielding high-purity polymer-grade 1-hexene and 1-octene and ending long-term import reliance. The site now manufactures 21 types of fine chemicals across five categories, lifting coal economic value sevenfold for applications in wax, food packaging, textile and medical materials.
A cluster of specialized "little giant" enterprises drives industrial upgrading along the industrial corridors of Ningdong Base. Ningxia Baoting New Materials advances its integrated coal-based high-end new materials project, scheduled for completion in June 2027 with an annual output value of CNY 20 billion upon full operation. The enterprise focuses on hydrogen and benzene production to become a core industrial chain leader and integrate upstream and downstream sectors. Ningxia Zhuoyu New Materials specializes in fine chemicals including aziridine and imidazole. It partnered with East China University of Science and Technology to develop ethylene imine polymer from ethylene glycol, breaking long-term foreign market monopolies.
These tech-focused niche enterprises prioritize core technological breakthroughs and value chain upgrading rather than blind capacity expansion, forming the backbone of Ningxia’s industrial restructuring.
As one of China’s eight national computing hub nodes and five new internet exchange centers, Ningxia hosts 10 large and ultra-large data centers with six top-ten national computing service providers established locally. Supported by the East Data West Computing project, high-speed fiber links connect Ningxia with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Chengdu-Chongqing and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with transmission latency controlled between 8ms and 20ms for over 90% of the country.
Zhongwei, the core computing hub of Ningxia, hosts integrated source-grid-load-storage projects on vast photovoltaic fields. Its 500,000-kW photovoltaic complex has been fully connected to the grid, and a 1.5-million-kW wind farm will complete construction in June 2026. Upon full operation, the projects will supply 4.14 billion kWh of clean power annually to data centers, cutting carbon emissions by approximately 3.3 million tons.
Power expenses account for 60%–70% of data center operational costs. Ningxia’s new energy installed capacity exceeds 60% with a utilization rate of 94.5%, ranking first in Northwest China for five consecutive years. The region adopts an innovative green power supply model combining direct photovoltaic connection and wind power trading with grid backup, delivering virtual direct supply for existing loads and physical direct supply for new capacity supported by energy storage to realize round-the-clock green power supply.
Zhongwei’s data center cluster boasts a computing scale of 130,000 P, 7.3 times the rack capacity recorded at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan. A virtuous cycle emerges where green power fuels computing development, marking a fundamental shift from coal and power transmission to computing and service export.
From coal mines covered by photovoltaic panels to grey hydrogen replaced by green hydrogen, wind, solar, coal and hydrogen resources jointly form the Ningxia model for national energy transition.
