Every household in the remote Ari Prefecture of China's Tibet Autonomous Region now has the benefits of electricity, with the completion of a state-run solar power project in the prefecture.

With an investment of 60 million yuan (US$7.3 million), the Solar Energy Project was launched in Ari Prefecture in September 2000.

To date, it has established 38 power stations, 30 water pumps and 10 satellite receiving stations. Over 110,000 families are receiving power supplies.

Ari, with an area of 345,000 square km and only 80,000 residents, is one of the world's most sparsely populated regions. At an average altitude of 4,500 meters, it has one of the harshest environments in Tibet. However, it has great solar energy potential, with an annual average of 3,370 sunshine hours.

Over the past years, all seven counties in the prefecture got electricity mainly from hydro-electric or machine generators, while most rural residents had no electricity because they lived on the vast and sparsely populated grasslands.

With the completion of the project, the prefecture has become the first in the region to have universal electricity coverage.

The central government has been developing solar energy in the prefecture since 1990. Several projects have been launched, supplying farmers with over 60 small power plants and 3,000 solar-powered kitchen stoves.

(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2003)