Construction Of 2GW Offshore Solar Plant In China Starts

Pic - An Artisitic rendition of the planned project. Courtesy: CNNC

China National Nuclear Power (CNNP) has kicked off the construction of the country’s largest offshore solar power plant next to the company’s nuclear power station in eastern Jiangsu province.

Called the Tianwan Offshore Photovoltaic Power Station, the 2 GW solar project entails an investment of CNY9.9 billion (USD1.4 billion) and comes with a 400 MWh storage.

Designed to operate for 25 years, the Tianwan PV project is expected to generate about 2.2 billion kilowatt-hours of power every year

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The Tianwan solar project will be built in a shallow sea area of about 1,876 hectares close to Tianwan Nuclear Power Station owned by CNNP that would have a total installed capacity of over 10 GW.

Before the Tianwan Offshore PV Power Station, China’s largest offshore solar project was one owned by Power Construction Corporation of China. The 1-GW solar plant started construction in Dongying, Shandong province, last November.

The 2 GW project being built on tidal flats consists of an offshore and onshore component. While the offshore componet consists of the actual solar plant or solar generation, the onshore component twill host the sub station to step up the voltage and integrate it with the national grid.   It is being seen as a critical demonstration project for offshore solar, and an added advantage is the proximity to high energy consumption centres.

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For China, which has a vice like grip on the global solar manufacturing sector that is forcing many countries to seek protection for their domestic producers, a key part of its solar dominance is the leadership in innovation as well, which helps build a case for its manufacturing prowess beyond state subsidies. With the kind of price advantage that can easily bury competition, large consuming markets like the US, India, and now Europe are increasingly  seeking to impose tariffs on Chinese imports. This, many argue, defeats the very reason that Solar became the power that it has, which was based on low cost Chinese manufacturing.

Pic: An artistic rendition of the planned project

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Courtesy: CNNC