Recently, a 50.5 MW village-level photovoltaic poverty alleviation power station in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province was officially connected to the power grid and began to generate electricity.

It is understood that total investment into this project is 343 million yuan (51 million US dollars). It is the first photovoltaic poverty alleviation project of Hainan Prefecture’s “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” and will support 7,269 impoverished households in 173 poverty-stricken villages across five counties in the prefecture by ensuring long-term, stable income increases. The power station will be integrated into the Qinghai Power Grid, and it is estimated that the average annual power generation capacity will reach 80 million kW/h, with average annual earnings reaching more than 60 million yuan (8.9 million US dollars).

Zhai Zhikang, a staff member with the Hainan Prefecture Poverty Alleviation and Development Bureau, said, “Earnings from the power station will be used for dividends, and 50 percent of the dividend fund will be used towards developing collective village economies. Villages will create public welfare jobs in management services, policy propaganda, and poverty alleviation. The remaining funds will be distributed to villagers in the form of wages. This is the most concentrated and socially-conscious political and humanitarian project invested in Hainan Prefecture. It is also the biggest highlight in poverty alleviation work this year.”