Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region has detected 672 geothermal sites with a combined power generation potential of 800,000 kilowatts in a new survey.

The resources are found along the plateau railway link in Lhasa, Nyemo, Yambajan, Nagqu and near Cona Lake, in areas near the Yarklunggtsangpo,Lhasa and Nyainchu rivers, as well as the vast uninhabited areas in the north of Tibet, said the regional bureau of geology and mineral exploration on Saturday.

The survey also found that Tibet's high-temperature geothermal resources of over 150 degrees Celcius take up 80 percent of China's total.

This is contrary to traditional beliefs that high-temperature geothermal resources are found only in volcanic regions at low altitudes. Tibet has an average altitude of 4,000 meters.

It plans to invest heavily in the coming decade to exploit clean and renewable energy including geothermal and solar energy.

Equivalent to roughly 853 billion tonnes of standard coal, China's geothermal energy potential could replace coal in energy consumption.