The 400 km long solar farm will produce 180 billion kWh of electricity by 2030, enough to meet the needs of Beijing and the surrounding area.
The Great Wall of solar power under construction seen from above. Image: NASA/Earth Observatory
The Kubuqi Desert in northwestern China is the site of an ambitious solar power “Great Wall” construction project, helping to transform this desolate land. Once completed in 2030, the solar farm will be 5 km wide and stretch 400 km across the sandy desert. That seems quite short compared to the 21,196 km length of the Great Wall, but the scale of the farm is still impressive in terms of electricity production.
The farm’s maximum capacity is expected to be 100 gigawatts (GW), of which 5.42 GW have been installed to date. The farm will include millions of photovoltaic panels, tapping into the estimated 3,100 hours of sunshine annually in this desert region. When completed, the giant farm will produce enough electricity to supply the capital Beijing.
According to China Daily, Beijing consumes 135.8 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in 2023. The farm will produce about 180 billion kWh of electricity in 2030. If Beijing’s electricity demand does not differ much from current Now, the farm will produce enough electricity not only for the capital but also surrounding areas. That output even exceeds the world’s largest solar farm, also in China (6.09 billion kWh/year).
China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases with 10.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2021. In Dalad Banner, where part of the “Great Wall” of solar power is being built, farm estimates could reduce about 31.3 million tons of carbon emissions in the region, according to Li Kai, an official at Dalad Banner electricity management agency. The new farm will contribute to greening and preventing desertification of Kubuqi. The project management board aims to process nearly 27 million hectares of desert. Photovoltaic panels will help fix the sand, act as a windbreak that pushes sand dunes to move and provide shade for plants to grow.