China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) will soon launch the second batch of massive wind and solar power projects in the Gobi Desert and other arid areas, two months after President Xi Jinping announced the plan, as reported by Bloomberg on December 6. NEA has informed provincial-level energy authorities to submit projects proposals to NEA and NDRC by December 15. Notably, individual units should reach a scale of at least one gigawatt (GW), and the participants of one project should be no more than two entities. It is also encouraged that a project includes both solar and wind farms if possible. In addition, projects able to start construction next year are anticipated to be built up and connected to the grid in 2023, while the deadline for some of the projects could be extended to 2024 depending on external conditions.

China kicked off the first phase of constructing renewable energy projects in desert areas this October after President Xi announced the scheme at the UN Biodiversity Conference. Phase one comprises 100GW of wind and solar power projects, among which the projects with a combined capacity of 51.68W have started building by the end of October. These projects are mainly located near existing electricity transmission channels to reduce power loss. NEA also calls for projects built near existing coal and gas power plants and energy storage facilities to make better use of intermittent wind and solar. The massive desert renewable energy build complies with China’s target of hitting more than 1,200GW of installed solar and wind power by 2030, meaning an expansion of over 534GW over the next decade.

Sources:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-06/china-starts-round-2-of-massive-desert-renewable-energy-build

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202112/07/WS61aeb4c5a310cdd39bc79bff.html

https://www.pv-tech.org/asia-pacific-solar-and-wind-investments-to-double-by-2030-wood-mackenzie/