The largest solar power project in the world

Saudi Arabia and the Softbank Telecommunication Corporation of Japan have signed a cooperation agreement on a multi-billion dollar solar project.

The largest solar project in the world will be made in Saudi Arabia.

And the cost of this project is also huge: about 200 billion US dollars. According to Bloomberg, the project, a collaboration between Saudi Arabia and Japanese tech giant Softbank, was unveiled on Tuesday.

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son told reporters, the project is expected to be completed by 2030, and will reach a capacity of 200 gigawatts (GW).

According to Bloomberg, with a capacity of 200GW, the Arab project will be 100 times larger than the next proposed project. This is the Bulli Creek Energy Company project proposed by Solar Choice, Australia, will have a capacity of 2GW.

At present, Tengger Deseart Solar Park of China is considered the largest solar farm in the world, with a capacity of 1500MW.

Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son

signed a cooperation agreement in New York on March 28.

This is an important step for the Saudi oil giant, the world's biggest oil exporter. This large-scale investment in solar power will reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil as part of Saudi Crown Prince Mosque's 2030 Vision to diversify its revenues. enter the country.

According to Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia has a total power output of 77GW (2/3 natural gas, 1/3 is petroleum), meaning 200GW would be too much solar energy for the country to own. I consume. This will lead to the export of energy reserves.

And the $ 200 billion? There seems to be a huge amount of money, but according to sources, it will be used to pay for solar panels and battery stores, along with a manufacturing plant to produce the panels. . The first phase of the project, to produce 7.2GW, will cost $ 5 billion, including $ 1 billion from the Softbank Vision Fund's long term investment portfolio, and the rest, according to Son. , is from the project capital.

The first solar power plants in the two plants will begin construction this year, and will start generating electricity by 2019.

Loc Xuan (Mashable)