The development of large-scale and overall uptake of solar power in the world is on the fast track.
In 2022, the world installed approximately 239 GW of new solar, finally surpassing the TW scale. That’s 45 percent more solar power capacity than the year before.
Also Read: World’s largest rooftop-mounted solar power plants
2023 is a promising solar boom year, with 341 GW of new solar power expected to be connected to the grid.
Anyway, this is not a market outlook article. In this article, we focus on the most significant solar power plants in the world. Particularly the top 5 largest solar power plants in operation.
Top 5 largest solar power plants in the world
- Bhadla Solar Park in India (Capacity 2.25GW)
- Gonghe Talatan Solar Park in China (Capacity 2.20GW)
- Pavagada Solar Park in India (2.05GW)
- Benban Solar Park in Egypt (Capacity 1.65GW)
- Tengger Desert Solar Park in China (Capacity 1.54GW)
1. Bhadla Solar Park
The Bhadla Solar Park is currently the largest solar power plant in the world with a nominal capacity of 2,245 megawatts (MW). The power plant sits on 56 square kilometers of land located in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India.
Its construction was carried out in four phases between 2015 and 2020. The construction cost of the Bhadla Solar Park was US$ 2.175 billion, US$ 775 million of which came from the Climate Investment Fund and US$ 1.4 billion from other sources.
The power plant contributes to India’s renewable energy goals and helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated -+ 4 million tons per year.
2. Gonghe Talatan Solar Park
The second-largest power plant in the world is Gonghe Talatan Solar Park, which is also the largest of its kind in China.
The 2.2 GW facility is located in Talatan, Gonghe County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai. It was built between the mid-2010s and 2020, at a cost of US$ 2.2 billion.
Gonghe Talatan Solar Park which is part of a planned 16 GW renewable power complex is developed and owned by Huanghe Hydropower Development.
3. Pavagada Solar Park
The third largest power plant in the world is the Pavagada Solar Park. The latter sits on an area of 53 square kilometers located in Pavagada taluk, Tumkur district, Karnataka.
The 2,050 MW solar power plant was developed by Karnataka Solar Power Development Corporation Ltd (KSPDCL), a joint venture between Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd (KREDL) and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
Construction took place between 2016 and 2018 at a cost of US$2.1 billion. Upon completion, Pavagada Solar Park was the World’s largest solar power plant.
4. Benban Solar Park
Benban Solar Park is the largest solar power plant in Africa and the 4th largest in the world.
With a total capacity of 1650 MW nominal power, the photovoltaic power station is located in Benban, Aswan Governorate, Egypt. The site is the western desert, approximately 650 km south of Cairo.
The construction works of the Benban Solar Park were carried out between 2018 and 2019 at a total cost of US$ 4 billion.
New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) owns the facility which has an annual production capacity of approximately 3.8 TWh.
5. Tengger Desert Solar Park
At number five is the 1,547 MW capacity Tengger Desert Solar Park located in Zhongwei, Ningxia, China.
The ground-mounted facility covers an area of 43 km2 in an open desert.
Developed and owned by the State Grid Corporation of China, Desert Solar Park supplies power to more than 600,000 homes.
