🕒 Last updated on August 30, 2025
China is becoming a central force in helping many countries shift to clean energy. Across the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which includes countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, large-scale projects are underway to cut pollution and bring more renewable power to homes and businesses. These projects use China’s advanced technologies in solar, wind, and clean energy transformation, while also training local people to manage them for the future.
Expanding renewable energy with large projects
In Azerbaijan’s Bilasuvar region, a massive construction site is taking shape. Steel piles are lined up across more than 1,400 hectares of land, an area larger than 2,000 football fields. This is the future home of the Bilasuvar photovoltaic power station, which will be the biggest of its kind in the country once completed. The 445-megawatt station will be constructed by a Chinese business. That is enough to generate around 890 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. This power will supply the needs of 200,000 households and will help cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 670,000 tonnes annually.
China is leading the way with advanced solar and wind technologies that are now being used across the SCO countries. For example, the Shelek Wind Farm in Kazakhstan has been running successfully for several years. This year, the 60-megawatt wind farm generated more than 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity between January and early June. Since it began operating, it has already provided 648 million kilowatt-hours in total.
Uzbekistan has also taken a huge step with its Bukhara Wind Power Project. With the assistance of Chinese businesses, this is the biggest wind project in Central Asia. It is anticipated to produce 3.59 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually with a total capacity of 1 gigawatt. That equals around 7 percent of Uzbekistan’s total power generation. Additionally, the project will cut annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.6 million tonnes.
These renewable energy projects show how countries with good sunlight and wind resources can work with China to bring green power to millions of people.
Transforming traditional energy into cleaner power
While renewable energy is growing, traditional sources like coal are still widely used in many SCO nations. China is sharing its experience in upgrading these old systems to make them cleaner and more efficient.
The conversion of coal into gas is the focus of a significant cooperation effort in Kazakhstan. By using China’s advanced coal chemical technology, the country will be able to convert its large coal reserves into natural gas. This step helps reduce pollution while making use of existing resources in a cleaner way.
In an effort to advance greener fossil fuel technology, China has also established cooperative laboratories with other nations. In Tajikistan, a joint lab has been created to work on clean coal power conversion. It focuses on safe mining methods and advanced ways to use coal without heavy pollution. In Kazakhstan, another joint lab has been set up in partnership with a leading technical university. This one is studying clean geological energy, carbon neutrality solutions, and methods for making oil and gas development less harmful to the environment.
By upgrading traditional energy alongside building renewables, China is helping these countries make a smoother shift toward low-carbon energy without losing their existing sources of power.
Building skills and training local talent
Green energy projects do not only bring electricity. They also create knowledge and skills that stay in the country long after the projects are built. Across SCO countries, Chinese companies are running training programs to ensure local workers can manage and maintain these advanced facilities.
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Daily monitoring is required for 79 enormous wind turbines at the Bash Wind Farm in Uzbekistan, which is a component of the Bukhara project. Local workers are being trained to inspect the equipment, from checking wind sensors to tightening bolts at the base of the towers. These training sessions are led by experts from China and are scheduled to continue for two years. This ensures that local staff can independently handle technical work in the future.
Training goes beyond just wind and solar maintenance. In Uzbekistan, a joint energy research and development center has been set up with Chinese companies. The center focuses on energy storage and new energy research and also provides professional training to energy specialists. In its first session, it already produced a group of skilled professionals who are expected to modernize energy management and introduce advanced Chinese technologies into the country’s power industry.
This focus on talent ensures that the benefits of green energy reach further than just electricity. It helps build long-term expertise in the region, giving countries the ability to manage their own low-carbon transitions while keeping projects running smoothly.