YICHANG, China – A 2.2-gigawatt (GW) floating solar power plant, the world’s largest of its kind, was officially commissioned on the Three Gorges Reservoir in central China’s Hubei Province on Tuesday, according to State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), the project developer.
Spanning 12 square kilometers across the reservoir’s surface, the plant comprises over 6 million floating solar panels anchored to the waterbed to withstand seasonal water level fluctuations. Equipped with intelligent tracking systems that adjust panel angles to maximize sunlight absorption, the facility is expected to generate approximately 2.8 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean electricity annually—enough to power 1.2 million households and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2.3 million metric tons each year.
“The floating design solves land scarcity issues and leverages the reservoir’s cooling effect to boost panel efficiency by 8-10% compared to ground-mounted solar farms,” said Li Jia, chief engineer of SPIC’s renewable energy division. “This project sets a new benchmark for integrating large-scale solar power with water conservancy infrastructure, supporting China’s ‘dual carbon’ goals.”
Local authorities noted the plant will also reduce evaporation from the reservoir by covering 15% of its surface, aiding water conservation in the Yangtze River basin.
