In November this year, China inaugurated its largest single-capacity solar power plant, the 3 GW Mengxi Blue Ocean Photovoltaic Power Station, located on a former coal mining site in Inner Mongolia (an autonomous region of China).
The facility is designed to produce 5.7 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually, enough to supply power to 2 million households.
The Mengxi Blue Ocean Photovoltaic Power Station spans 7,000 hectares (70 square kilometers) and features over 5.9 million solar panels.
The total investment in the project amounts to RMB 12 billion ($1.65 billion).
A new rare-earth metal alloy was used for grounding materials, reducing costs by over 40%. Additionally, due to its large area, the solar power plant also serves as grazing land for livestock. Beneath the solar panels, sand-fixing plants and forage crops have been cultivated.
The growing demand for clean energy and China’s goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2060 have driven the rapid adoption of renewable energy sources in the country. To address land availability challenges, China strategically places renewable energy projects in sparsely populated regions.