The largest solar plant is in China. (Image source Adobe Stock/Kondor83)
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The world's largest solar power plant recently went online in China. It produces about as much electricity per year as the country of Luxembourg consumes annually.
At the same time, in terms of its area, it is so large that the smallest country in the world could fit into it 300 times over.
Why is that important? Along with wind power, solar energy is the most important renewable resource that we as humanity have. The new solar park in China shows how much electricity can be generated with it.
In detail: The solar farm is located in the autonomous region of Xinjiang in the northwest of the Middle Kingdom. The region is characterized by its barren desert and mountain landscapes. It is also sparsely populated and therefore ideal for mega-structures such as the new solar park.
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Information about the Xinjiang region and the Uighur people
The Xinjiang region is home to Turkic peoples such as the Uighurs. They are monitored and oppressed by the Chinese government apparatus, among other things because of alleged terrorist acts for which there is no evidence.
For more information on the situation in Xinjiang and the oppression of the Uighurs, Deutschlandfunk summarized.
The solar park covers an area of 13,333 hectares – that is 133.33 square kilometers (via Reuters). This makes it 300 times larger than Vatican City. The smallest country in the world has an area of 44 hectares, which corresponds to 0.44 square kilometers.
But the solar plant in China is not only setting a new record in terms of area. It is also the leader in terms of energy yield. With a solar output of 3.5 gigawatts, it generates 6.09 billion kilowatt hours or 6.09 terawatt hours per year.
That would be enough for Luxembourg, but for China it is just a drop in the ocean
That is about the same amount as the country of Luxembourg consumes. In 2020, our neighbouring country had an electricity consumption of 6.26 terawatt hours (via Daily newspaperAccording to the statistics portal, Germany's electricity demand was Statista in 2022 at 507 terawatt hours.
China, on the other hand, consumed 8,540 terawatt hours of electricity in the same year. The new solar park, which is intended to supply the major cities in the east of the country, accounts for just 0.07 percent of this.
The largest solar power plants to date are also located in China and have an output of 3.0 gigawatts.
In general, China is the world leader in the production of solar powerwith a solar capacity of 662 gigawatts installed in 2023 (via Volker Quaschning). Germany will have a capacity of 81.4 gigawatts – also in 2023.
China's new solar farm could therefore produce a significant portion of Germany's photovoltaic electricity. After all, it has an output that corresponds to just over four percent of the capacity of the systems installed in Germany.