A Chinese state-owned company said on Monday it had connected the world’s biggest solar plant, Xinjiang Solar Farm, to the grid.
According to a Reuters report, the Xinjiang Solar Farm’s grid capacity is 5 gigawatts (GW) and extends over 200,000 acres. The solar farm is located in the capital of Urumqi and has come online.
The Xinjiang solar farm will produce 6.09 billion kWh of electricity annually. According to Reuters, this produced electricity is enough to power the entire nation of Papua New Guinea for a full year.
Apart from the above-mentioned solar park, some other prominent solar facilities are also located in China. The Longyuan Power Group’s Ningxia Tenggeli desert solar project and China Lüfa Qinghai New Energy’s Golmud Wutumeiren solar complex are two such examples.
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Due to its scarce population, Xinjiang has become a hotspot for big wind and solar projects. This has enabled renewable projects to be developed in that region, which will ultimately provide power to China through the grid established there.
At the moment, China is among the few countries that are leading the global energy transition. For instance, China is leading the solar panel installation race with an installed capacity of 609.49 GW. In addition, the government is pushing to maintain its solar power growth.
According to the International Energy Agency, China’s green growth is helping China to stay on track with its goal of tripling its global target of renewable capacity by 2030.