Forbes. (2019, June 29) World’s Largest Solar Power Plant Switched On. Retrieved July 18, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnparnell/2019/06/29/worlds-largest-solar-power-plant-switched-on/#230964de161a
The UAE is well known for its seemingly endless flow of oil. However, even though it’s the world’s fifth largest exporter of oil, corporations are also looking into solar energy production. This particular solar power plant, built by a collaboration of the Abu Dhabi Power Corporation, Marubeni Corp, and Jinko Solar. These companies have collaborated to create the largest solar power plant in the world. This project came at a cost of $870 million dollars, and has a 1,177 MW capacity.
This article is related to environmental science in the sense that it shows improvement in non western society in terms of renewable energy. The UAE could just as easily continue to survive without solar power, especially with all the oil reserves they have, but instead they choose to use another one of their most abundant resources: the sun. I think it’s important to see more countries welcoming solar power into their economy, as the technology can only get better from here. With more countries developing solar panels, more advancements are definitely on the way.
That is a message of the times- when the big oil countries are going solar. And there’s no shortage of sunshine over there either. The big issue with this that I’m curious about is how they store the energy- that is such a vital piece to renewables because they typically don’t produce the energy exactly when and where it is needed. For a power plant of that capacity I am curious about that- did the article mention anything about that? Is all the energy consumed locally?