Summary

The Tibet Autonomous Region ranked last out of 15 Chinese provinces surveyed for Climatescope 2014. It scored 0.95, performing best on Enabling Framework Parameter I. It was judged to be strong on policy and regulation due to its clean energy policies and rural electrification through renewable energy.

Tibet is located in the west of China, bordering the Indian subcontinent. Its 2013 GDP was $13.3bn, with a very high growth rate of 16.1%. As part of a national program to develop economies in central and western China, it enjoys lower business income tax rates than those in more developed regions.

It is not a manufacturing center and its clean energy value chain and financial institutions are limited. However, it did host some of China’s early rural electrification programs using renewable energy.

In 2013, Tibet received $56.6m in clean energy investments, a small fraction of the total $1.2bn since 2006. Solar was the only sector to receive meaningful investment.

The region has the best solar resources in China, with an average of 3,000 hours of insolation per year. PV projects have received higher feed-in tariffs than those in other provinces since 2012 and will continue to do so until 2015. However, its remote location and grid limitations mean that developers are cautious about taking on large-scale projects.

Tibet has China’s only geothermal plant, and it installed its first grid-connected wind project in 2013. The province’s total installed renewable energy capacity is 291MW.

In 2013, it sourced 49.5% of its total 2.29TWh electricity needs from large hydropower. Renewable energy forms a significant part of the region’s power mix, providing 28.6% of generation and representing 28.1% of installed capacity.