China Completes World's Largest Floating Solar Farm at 2.1 GW
Coal Lake Becomes Solar Powerhouse
China has completed and connected to the grid the world's largest floating solar installation, a 2.1-gigawatt facility built on a subsidence lake created by decades of coal mining in Anhui province. The project, developed by China Three Gorges Corporation, covers approximately 16 square kilometers of water surface and generates enough electricity to power 800,000 homes.
The installation uses bifacial solar panels mounted on high-density polyethylene floats, capturing light from both the sun above and reflection off the water surface. China Three Gorges president Lei Mingshan said the project "transforms an environmental liability — a flooded coal mine — into a clean energy asset."
Technical Details
The facility uses 4.8 million individual solar panels manufactured by LONGi Green Energy and Trina Solar. The panels are rated at 580 watts each, with a bifacial gain of approximately 10%. The floating system is designed to withstand wind speeds of up to 150 km/h and can accommodate water level fluctuations of up to 3 meters.
An integrated 400 MWh battery storage system from CATL provides four hours of storage capacity, smoothing the intermittent solar output and allowing the facility to supply power during evening peak demand hours.
Environmental Benefits
Beyond clean energy generation, the floating panels reduce water evaporation by shading the lake surface. Environmental monitoring conducted during the construction phase showed that water temperatures beneath the panels were 2 to 3 degrees Celsius lower than uncovered areas, which researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said could benefit aquatic ecosystems by reducing algae blooms.
The project replaces approximately 3.4 million tonnes of coal consumption annually and avoids an estimated 5.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
Scaling Potential
China has thousands of subsidence lakes from coal mining, representing a massive untapped resource for floating solar. The Ministry of Natural Resources estimates approximately 3,000 square kilometers of coal subsidence areas could support floating installations, with a theoretical capacity of over 100 GW.
The Anhui project's success is expected to accelerate development of similar sites across Shandong, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia provinces. China's total floating solar capacity has reached 8.5 GW, accounting for over 70% of global floating solar installations.