EVENTS

Tibet Autonomous Region is rapidly emerging as China’s high-altitude power base. Geospatial evidence indicates dense buildouts of utility-scale solar, new hydropower, and ultra-high-voltage transmission that can move electricity from the plateau to coastal industry. Advances in storage, grid integration, and all-weather operations are easing earlier constraints on harvesting and transmitting power at altitude. The result is a long-horizon scale-up over the next 25 years that serves local development, supports distant industrial hubs, and contributes to Beijing’s 2060 carbon-neutrality goal. The same networks sit close to key corridors and bases, providing dependable energy for sensors, logistics, and sustained PLA operations in harsh conditions. This talk maps where and how Tibet’s renewable-energy nexus is forming, outlines the capacity trajectory, and shows how location-based intelligence informs both development and strategy. It closes with implications for India, highlighting likely pressure points along the Himalayas and the questions that now demand urgent attention.

Speaker

Y. Nithiyanandam is Professor and Head of the Geospatial Research Programme at the Takshashila Institution, specialising in geospatial intelligence. He is the lead author of the Takshashila Geospatial Bulletin, which extensively covers the Tibet Autonomous Region’s civil and military developments through a geospatial lens. His work spans advanced remote sensing, image processing, GIS analytics, urban and ocean informatics, and geospatial policy. He has established geospatial programmes at leading Indian universities and collaborates with globally recognised institutions. He was awarded the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship and is an alumnus of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Chair

Atul Bhardwaj is a Visiting Fellow in the Department of International Politics at the City St. George's, University of London. He was a Fellow at the Prime Minister Museum and Library, Teen Murti. He is the author of India - America Relations (1942-62): Rooted in the Liberal International Order. He has been writing a strategic affairs column in the Economic and Political Weekly since 2013. Atul Bhardwaj holds a PhD in history from Ambedkar University and has done his masters in War Studies from King's College, London. He is alumni of the National Defence Academy, Pune and has served in the aviation branch of the Indian Navy for two decades. He was formerly also a Research fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). He has published several papers in refereed journals and edited books and contributed to leading international and national newspapers. He has also worked as associate editor in Business and Economy magazine and was the founding editor of two defence magazines, Purple Beret and Salute.

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