From solar panels to super dams: China’s clean energy takeover

The robotic arms at SC Solar’s cutting-edge plant in Suzhou whir with precision, sliding gleaming photovoltaic panels along a spotless assembly line. It’s a marvel of Chinese engineering and ambition, built to operate around the clock and supply the world’s clean energy revolution. But for now, it hums just eight hours a day, six days a week.

More than 4000 kilometres away, on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, construction began this week on what will become the world’s largest hydroelectric dam. Situated on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo, which flows from Tibet into India and Bangladesh, the $US170 ($258 billion) billion project will dwarf the Three Gorges Dam and generate enough electricity to power all of Britain for a year.

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