Aerial photo taken on Dec. 15, 2020 shows a solar thermal electricity project in Gonghe County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Hainan in northwest China's Qinghai Province. Qinghai authorities have been promoting clean energy in recent years. By early December this year, the province's power generation from clean energy reached 79 billion kWh, according to State Grid Qinghai Electric Power Company. (Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang)

Northwest China's Qinghai Province generated 84.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity using clean energy last year, up 8.7 percent year on year, according to local authorities.

A total of 38.11 million tonnes of coal was saved, cutting carbon dioxide emission by 62.68 million tonnes, as a result of this clean energy production, said Fang Baomin, with State Grid Qinghai Electric Power Company.

Qinghai is known for its richness in water, solar and wind power. Last year, clean energy generation accounted for 89 percent of the province's total power generation.

In 2020, hydropower generation reached 59.9 billion kWh, up 8.1 percent. Electricity generated from solar and wind energy came in at 16.7 billion kWh and 8.1 billion kWh, up 5.5 percent and 22.5 percent, respectively.

By the end of 2020, the total installed power generating capacity in Qinghai reached 40.3 million kW, of which over 90 percent are installed clean energy capacity.