Wind farms make way for Asia’s biggest observatory in a tiny desert town in China
- Facility is being built atop a mountain near Lenghu, in Qinghai, and there are restrictions on outdoor light sources and humidity changes
- Wind turbines and solar panels have sprung up in recent years, but planned projects within a 50km radius of the site will have to be relocated
Giant wind turbines extend for tens of kilometres at the foot of the Altun Mountains in China’s Gobi Desert, generating power that is sent around the country every day via the national grid.
They started springing up in 2016 near Lenghu, in the northwestern province of Qinghai, where the average wind speed is 7 metres per second and with investment from the likes of state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group.
Wind turbines near the site are a problem, according to astronomer Deng Licai, who led the team that found one of the world’s best stargazing sites on Saishiteng Mountain.
“The blinking red lights on top of the wind turbines could ruin the night skies and interfere with observation into the deeper, dimmer universe,” said Deng, from the National Astronomical Observatories. “Their huge blades can also trap wind fields and cause water vapour to accumulate.”
Like existing world-class observatories in Chile, Hawaii and Spain, the success of telescopes at the site near Lenghu – located 4,200 metres (13,800 feet) above sea level – will depend on the environment being dark and dry, with stable air.