Solar Power Could Be the World’s Largest Source of Electricity by 2050: IEA

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that solar power could be the world’s largest source of electricity by 2050. The world’s two fast developing economies- China and India will lead the solar power boom. Of late, both these countries have been witnessing significant investments in solar power projects.

According to IEA, China is the world leader in terms of installed solar capacity. As part of its 13^th Five Year Plan, the country had aimed at installing 105 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity by 2020. However, the country has already exceeded the above target well ahead of the schedule. As per latest available data, the installed solar power capacity in China stood at 112 GW as at the end of July this year. Consequently, the country’s administration has revised the said target to 213 GW by 2020.

As of June this year, China owns three of the world’s five largest solar power plants. The 1.547 GW solar power plant in Zhongwei, Ningxia covers approximately 1,200 kilometers. The first phase of Datong Solar Power Plant has 1 GW capacity. The plant boasts a total capacity of 3 GW in three phases and would be one of the world’s biggest solar power plants upon completion. The Longyangxia Dam Solar Park in the city of Cixi in eastern Zhejiang province had recently installed 300 hectares of solar panels above a fish farm. In addition to the existing plants, China has already announced its intention to add more capacity by building 100 panda-shaped solar installations along its planned Silk Road Economic Belt trade corridor.

The installed capacity of solar power in India took a big jump in the first nine months of this year. The country which had reported a capacity of 9MW at end-2016 has registered rapid rise in installed capacity through September this year to 16.2GW. India was ranked seventh in total installed capacity by the IEA at the end of last year.

The Indian government has set an ambitious goal to install 100 GW by 2022 by promoting grid-connected solar power projects, as part of its National Solar Mission. Currently, the world’s third and fifth largest solar power plants are in India. The Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park has an installed capacity of 1 GW. The Kamuthi Solar Power Project in Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu has a capacity of 648 MW and covers as area of around 10 square kilometers. The country targets to generate 175GW of clean energy by 2022, out of which 100 GW is expected to come from solar power projects.