South Africa Unveils Plans for "World's Biggest" Solar Power Plant

South Africa is to unveil plans for what it claims will be the world’s biggest solar power plant—a radical step in a coal-dependent country where one in six people still lacks electricity. The project, expected to cost up to 200 billion rand ($28.9 billion), would aim by the end of its first decade to achieve an annual output of five gigawatts (GW) of electricity—currently one-tenth of South Africa’s energy needs.

Giant mirrors and solar panels would be spread across the Northern Cape province, which the government says is among the sunniest 3 percent of regions in the world with minimal cloud or rain.

The government hopes the solar park will help reduce carbon emissions from Africa’s biggest economy, which is still more than 90 percent dependent on coal-fired power stations. In April, the World Bank came in for sharp criticism from environmentalists for approving a $3.75 billion loan to build one of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants in the country.

South Africa Unveils Plans for "World's Biggest" Solar Power Plant Tomorrow is greener