China General Nuclear Group (CGN) has recently announced that it is investing around $2.5 billion to build a 1-gigawatt solar power plant and wind turbines to generate 2-gigawatt (GW).
These new solar and wind farms will be located in Inner Mongolia. The project has been in the works for quite some time already and The Inner Mongolia Solar Energy Industry, said they are now ready to move forward and begin construction. The weather conditions present there make it an ideal spot to build such a facility. The area is blessed with an abundance of sunshine and very good wind flow.
Inner Mongolia is, however, quite far away from China’s urban and industrialized areas. To account for this, ultra high voltage transmission lines needed to be installed to transport the energy that will be produced. CGN now has the power lines in place and they have been checked by the Inner Mongolia Solar Energy Industry, so now they can focus on building the plants. The local authorities will also begin setting target dates for achieving their solar and wind energy goals.
According to PV Magazine, all the components of the wind farm will be produced nearby in Ulanchabu, Inner Mongolia. City officials have reported that compliance reviews and administrative procedures will take part in the first half of 2020. Construction of the project is set to begin in August and they hope to have everything completed and operational by 2021.
CGN was founded in 1994 in Guangdong province and operated the first nuclear power station at Daya Bay. They began in renewable energy many years ago when they started focusing on wind and solar as well. The company says that today they are involved in over 300 clean energy projects within China, this currently equates to 4.4 GW of solar and 12.7 GW of wind energy. CGN also has built wind farms in Australia, France, and the UK. The company said they are currently running 13.4 GW in renewable energy overseas.
CGN lays claims to being China’s clean energy giant and state-owned renewable energy player. With this new facility, they will continue to push forward towards more renewables. Hopefully, more big companies will follow suit, seek out areas that offer ideal conditions, and continue to focus on clean renewable energy.
