After India, now is China’s turn to build the biggest solar farm in the world on the Tibetan plateau (in the province of Qinghai) that generates 850 MW of clean energy and can power up to 200,000 households.
China And India In the Race To Build The Largest Solar Power Plant On The Planet
Until now, the biggest solar farm in the world was the Kamuthi Solar Power Plant, which was built in 2016 in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.
Kamuthi solar farm has an installed capacity of 648 MW, and can power up to 150,000 households.
In 2017, China built the biggest solar farm in the world which is now the Longyangxia Dam Solar Park, located in the western province of Qinghai, China, and occupies an area of 27 square kilometres (10.42 square miles), and consists of nearly 4 million deep blue solar panels.
The construction of the Chinese solar farm started in 2013, and the entire project costed the amount of 6 billion yuan ($889,5 million).
Xie Xiaoping, is the chairman of the Huanghe Hydropower Development, which is a state-run company that is behind the solar park.
Xie Xiaoping stated that unlike Donald Trump, which is a known climate denier that was elected as the U.S. president, he is convinced that global warming represents a real and present danger that can wreak havoc in the world, if we don’t take the needed measures to limit pollution and increase the share of the renewable energy sources in the world’s energy mix.
From The Biggest Polluter In The World To The Biggest Investor In Renewable Energy On The Planet
From the title of the biggest polluter in the world, now China has become the biggest investor in clean energy in the world, and wants to produce 110 GW of solar power and 210 GW of wind power by the year 2020, as part of the plan to slash pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the country.
By 2030, China has an even more ambitious plan because wants to increase the share of the renewable energy sources in the country’s energy mix, up to the level of 20%.
Of course that coal will represent the main energy source in China even in 2030 beside all the investments made in clean energy because the developing economy of the country requires huge amounts of cheap energy, which can be provided only by burning fossil fuels with the known effects on the population and the environment.
China To Increase The Share Of Renewables In Its Future Energy Mix
Beside the huge investments made to develop the generation capacity for solar and wind power in the country by 2020, China wants to reduce its emissions, and also to create a number of 13 million new jobs in the sector.
Xie said that his company has now solar and hydro projects under development in Africa (Ethiopia) as part of the country’s plan to expand the renewable energy sources all over the world.
At the end of his speech, Mr. Xie concluded with the following words:
“I don’t care what Mr. Trump says – I don’t understand it, and I don’t care about it.
I think what he says is nonsense.”
Conclusion
If the U.S. is no longer interested to invest in renewable energy due to the Trump administration, we have other major countries in the world, that will continue to increase the generation capacity for renewable energy of the planet.
Eventually, even the U.S. will start reinvesting in renewable energy, because only a sustained effort of all countries on the planet could help mankind reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, and use renewable energy for a clean and healthy future for us and the environment.
