Inner Mongolia's sun to help power nation

Massive new solar, wind projects weaning region off fossil fuels, helping charge national grid

Editor's note: China has seen tremendous changes nationwide, from economic growth to environmental protection, from social improvement to cultural progress. In this series, China Daily maps the changes and tells the stories of the people who lived through them.

Mechanical arms remove empty 2.5-metric-ton cells from a heavy-duty electric truck and replace them with fully charged ones. The entire process takes just five minutes.

The charging station in Ordos, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, is fully automated. All drivers need to do is scan a code to use it. The station, which went into operation last month, can service 150 heavy-duty electric trucks a day.

In the Hohhot-Baotou-Ordos cluster, a major coal-producing area, thousands of trucks transport the fuel each day. They not only run on fossil energy, but also are major contributors of air pollution. However, the adoption of the intelligent charging station is expected to help change that situation soon.

As China forges toward meeting its climate targets of reaching peak carbon emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, the station is just one example of the ongoing green transition in the region.