India Officially Has The Largest Solar Plant

As reported from Inverse: India is not just known for the Taj Majal and Gandhi, but officially holds the record of having the largest solar power plant in the world, unseating California from the title.

The solar facility is located in Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu in the southern part of India. The power plant covers nearly 4 square miles of land and can generate around 648 megawatts of electricity when in full flow. This power plant is larger in size and output as compared to the Topaz Solar Farm that previously had the most output with a capacity of 550 megawatts.

The solar power plant was funded by the multinational conglomerate Adani Group. The plant is comprised of 2.5 million individual solar cell modules and cost $697 million to build. It took 8 months to build the power plant. When the plant is at full capacity, it is capable of generating enough power for 150,000 homes.

The solar plant is part of a phase of revolutionising the renewable energy ecosystem of India that include solar parks, wind turbines and manufacturing facilities. An estimated 8,000 workers have been part of the project and each day, they installed enough equipment to produce 11 megawatts of energy. The company also turned to a solar power robot in helping maintain the solar modules.

The Adani Group has laid the groundwork for India to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels at the infrastructure level. The consultancy group, Bridge to India, said that utility-scale installation account for 85% of India’s solar. These installations helped the country pass the 10GW solar output in November.

India is targeting to reach 100 GW in the next 5 years, which is a very aggressive goal. It took India 5 years to reach 10 GW capacity, but the consultancy firm Bridge to India said it expects the solar market to continue to accelerate its growth all thanks to the Indian government investments and the growing interest from energy companies around the world.

Click here to read the full story on Inverse

Featured Image Credit: alex lang