India is laying the foundation for what is expected to be the world’s largest renewable energy park. The site is expected to cover 180,000 acres, about the size of Singapore, and produce 30 gigawatts of electricity per year.
The park will be located in the Kutch region of western Gujarat and will use a combination of solar and wind energy to cut carbon dioxide emissions by up to 50 million tons per year. It will also be located next to a desalination plant which plans to process 100 million liters of water a day.
Some of the largest existing solar farms produce just a fraction of this energy. The current largest, India’s Bhadla solar park, produces only 2.245 gigawatts. Australia also plans to produce a new energy park, the largest solar-only facility in the world, that will produce 10 gigawatts of energy.
The new park is part of India’s ambitious plan to produce 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022 and 450 gigawatts by 2030.