China surprises the world with the mega-project of the “sea of death”

Elton GardnerJanuary 9, 2023

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Aerial view of the photovoltaic power station in the Kubuqi desert.

The desert region of Kubuqi was called “the sea of death” for being an arid, barren and unpopulated area. Now, however, its landscape has changed. Hundreds of blue solar panels and green vegetation cover the grounds.

This autonomous region of Inner Mongolia in northern China is becoming the protagonist of the Chinese energy transition by hosting the largest solar panel on the planet, according to what the media has published. xataka. The area, which covers some 1.4 million square meters, is home to around 196,000 photovoltaic panels.

The Junma power station in the Kubuqi desert in Ordos is just one part of the mega-project China is developing in Inner Mongolia. This project is intended to produce renewable energy for the entire country and has a budget of 11,000 million euros, according to the specialized media.

Thus, upon completion, the station will have 16 gigawatts of power capacity, according to a statement from one of the builders, China Three Gorges Group. It will be capable of sending 40 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually to Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province, with more than half coming from clean energy.

The project is still in its early phase, upon completion the massive facility will include 8 GW of solar power, 4 GW of wind power and 4 GW of upgraded coal capacity.

So far, it has already generated more than 2,312 million kWh of green electricity, which is equivalent to saving 760,000 tons of standard coal and reducing CO2 emissions by 1.85 million tons, according to State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), the project contractor.