5 GW Solar project unveiled in China

China Flexes Solar Muscle (Again) With 5 GW Project Commissioning

By Saur News Bureau/ Updated On Wed, Jun 5th, 2024

Lest their be any doubt over China’s absolute dominance and leadership in the renewable energy space, especially solar power, the Country reminded the world with a mammoth 5 GW project it commissioned earlier this month.

The world’s largest solar project is a massive 5GW solar park in the north-west of the Xinjiang region that covers over 200,000 acres. Built in a desert area of Ürümqi, near the provincial capital by Ürümqi Zhonglvdian New Energy Co Ltd, the plant is slated to produce around 6,090GWh of electricity annually. That is almost as much as what Mumbai needs on an average annually.

The new project joins the 3 GW each Ningxia Tenggeli and Golmud Wutumeiren projects already in operation in China.

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China has a ‘megabase’ programme in place to install 455GW of new solar and wind capacity in remote areas, particularly the Country’s northwest regions which are not conducive for agriculture and where it is seeking to add more energy guzzling industries powered by renewable energy. With low demand otherwise in these regions due to sparse population, the focus is on energy intensive industries. Solar polysilicon is one such case that is produced in Xinjiang, though now under sanctions from the US for use of ‘slave’ labour as it claims.

The Chinese project sets the bar for some of India’s most ambitious solar parks, ranging from the planned 30 GW capacities at Khavda, to the 7 GW plans for Ladakh. The latter has been embroiled in multiple issues related to land acquisition, environment impact, and transmission costs.

For China, as a market leader, demonstrating bigger and wider applications for solar power is crucial to ensure its market dominance and faster uptake globally for solar. Recently it was announced that work has begin on a 2 GW offshore solar plant, again a trailblazer for the sector. Solar plants on tidal lands, large floating solar plants, and an audacious solar rooftop push have been other ways the Chinese firms have demonstrated their ability to adapt solar to challenging conditions.