World’s largest offshore solar farm goes online

November 14, 2024

The world’s largest offshore solar farm is being connected to the grid.

The 3,000-acre installation, situated five miles off the coast of China’s Shandong province can, when operating at full capacity, generate a gigawatt of electricity — enough to power about a million homes.

Offshore solar, which sidesteps the renewable’s land-use demands, is becoming increasingly popular; Taiwan inaugurated what it said was the world’s largest plant just last week.

The price of solar is falling faster than other renewables: Our World in Data estimated that, between 2010 and 2019, the cost of solar energy per megawatt-hour fell 90%, while wind fell 70%.

A chart showing the terawatt-hours of electricity produced from solar per year in China and other countries.