State-owned power company China Three Gorges Renewables Group has announced plans to construct an 8 GW solar farm as part of a nearly $11 billion integrated energy project. This ambitious endeavor marks a significant step in China’s renewable energy expansion and highlights the country’s commitment to meeting its growing electricity demands with sustainable solutions.
To put the sheer size of the 8 GW solar farm in perspective, the three largest solar farms in the world by capacity are China’s Ningxia Tenggeli and Golmud Wutumeiren solar farms, with a capacity of 3 GW each, and a 3.5-GW solar farm outside Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital. The new solar farm will not only surpass these but will also be one of the largest renewable energy projects globally.
In addition to the massive solar farm, the $10.99 billion project will also consist of 4 GW of wind power, 5 GWh of energy storage capacity, 200 MW of solar thermal, and 4 GW of coal-fired power. It will be sited in Ordos, in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region, the Shanghai-listed company said in a stock filing. Despite the inclusion of coal-fired power, the project represents a major push towards integrating various forms of renewable energy into China’s power grid.
China Three Gorges says that the enormous integrated energy site’s power will be dispatched to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster in northern China via an ultra-high voltage power transmission line. This infrastructure will ensure that the generated power reaches one of China’s most industrially active regions, supporting its energy needs with a mix of renewable and traditional sources.
The project will break ground in September and is expected to come online by June 2027. China Three Gorges Renewables will take a 56% stake, while Inner Mongolia Energy Group will control 44%, reflecting a strong partnership aimed at driving forward the country’s energy transformation.
This development comes at a time when global electricity demand is rising at its fastest rate in two decades. According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) newly released “Electricity Mid-Year Update” report, global electricity demand is forecast to grow by around 4% in 2024, up from 2.5% in 2023. The increase in global electricity consumption is set to continue into 2025, with growth at around 4% again. Solar energy is expected to meet roughly half of this demand growth.
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