State-owned power company China Three Gorges Renewables Group has announced plans to build an 8 GW solar farm as part of a nearly $11 billion integrated energy project. This massive initiative underscores China’s commitment to expanding its renewable energy capacity and reducing its carbon footprint.
To put the sheer size of the 8 GW solar farm in perspective, the three largest solar farms in the world by capacity are China’s Ningxia Tenggeli and Golmud Wutumeiren solar farms, each with a capacity of 3 GW, and a 3.5 GW solar farm outside Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital. The new project, set to be located in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, will more than double the capacity of these existing solar giants.
In addition to the massive solar farm, the $10.99 billion project will also consist of 4 GW of wind power, 5 GWh of energy storage capacity, 200 MW of solar thermal, and 4 GW of coal-fired power. While the inclusion of coal-fired power is seen as a setback by some environmentalists, the overall increase in renewable capacity is expected to have a significant positive impact.
China Three Gorges says that the enormous integrated energy site’s power will be dispatched to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster in northern China via an ultra-high voltage power transmission line. This will ensure that the renewable energy generated can be efficiently used in one of China’s most populous and industrially significant regions.
The project will break ground in September and is expected to come online by June 2027. This timeline reflects the ambitious pace at which China is pushing forward with its renewable energy goals.
China Three Gorges Renewables will take a 56% stake in the project, with Inner Mongolia Energy Group controlling the remaining 44%. This partnership highlights the strategic importance of regional collaboration in achieving national energy objectives.
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