China recently connected its largest single-capacity solar farm built on a former coal mining site, in the Gobi Desert, to the grid.
The Mengxi Blue Ocean Photovoltaic Power Station, located in Otog Front Banner, Ordos, Inner Mongolia, came online on November 5. With a maximum installed capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) and more than 5.9 million solar panels, this the facility will produce approximately 5.7 billion. kilowatt-hours of electricity per year – enough to power two million homes.
This massive project will save about 1.71 million tons of conventional coal each year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 4.7 million tons, which is equivalent to planting 62,700 hectares (about 155,000 hectares) of trees.
Built on a coal mine site, Mengxi Blue Ocean is part of China's national West-East Electricity Transmission Project, which brings investment and development to China's western region while supplying the growing demand for electricity in the eastern provinces.
The solar farm includes the country's first large-scale outdoor solar test facility in the Gobi Desert climate zone, demonstrating the potential of large-scale solar installations in challenging environments.
The power station uses innovative new materials to stop the earth's alloy, reducing costs by 40%. It also replaces traditional concrete foundations with steel to reduce the impact on the landscaping of the lawn.
Chuang Xihong, deputy director of the Construction Engineering Department of Guodian Power Group, the parent company of CHN Energy, explained that Mengxi Blue Ocean is an agrivoltaic project as well. [via PV Tech]:
Good fodder and sand-fixing crops are grown under the PV modules, which provide fodder for Australian white sheep and chickens. A hybrid ecosystem development model will be established where PV energy production and breeding will go hand in hand.
Read more: China is powering the world's largest open-sea offshore solar farm
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