Taklimakan desert has good lighting conditions. If the long-distance transmission technology is more mature in the future and the Taklimakan Desert is well utilized, only about 5% of the area suitable for photovoltaic construction is needed, then the Taklimakan Desert may basically become the largest photovoltaic energy base in China.
Taklimakan Desert is located in the middle of Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang, China. It is the largest desert in China, the tenth largest desert in the world and the second largest mobile desert in the world. The whole desert covers an area of 330,000 square kilometers, which is huge. You know, Germany, the fourth largest economic power in the world, covers an area of 357,600 square kilometers, while Japan, the third largest economic power in the world, covers an area of about 378,000 square kilometers, which means that the area of Taklimakan Desert alone is basically close to that of Japan and Germany.
Taklimakan desert belongs to quicksand desert, so not all deserts are suitable for building photovoltaic bases. If about 5% of the area can be used to build the photovoltaic industry, it can basically become the largest photovoltaic energy base in China.
Generally speaking, according to the development of new photovoltaic energy technology in China, 1 m2 photovoltaic panel can generate 200 watts, so 10000 m2 is equivalent to 2000KW, and 1 km2 is equivalent to 200 million installed capacity. So in this way, if 5% of Taklimakan Desert is equivalent to 65.438+0.65 million square kilometers of land area, then the total installed capacity of solar energy can be 3.3 billion.
In the first half of 2022, the total installed power in China was about 2.44 billion kilowatts, of which the newly added total installed power was 165438+3453 million kilowatts, accounting for 46.5% of the total installed power. Among the newly added power installations, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic is 336.7 million kilowatts, accounting for about 13.8%, the cumulative installed capacity of wind power is 342 million kilowatts, the cumulative installed capacity of hydropower is 399.99 million kilowatts, and the cumulative installed capacity of nuclear power is 55.53 million kilowatts.
From the above, we can know that if 5% of Taklimakan desert is paved with solar power generation devices, the total installed capacity will reach 3.3 billion, far higher than the existing 2.44 billion in China. By then, it will surely become the largest solar power generation base in China.
Moreover, for Taklimakan desert, if the solar power generation device is laid overhead, there will not be too much light under the photovoltaic panel, and some plants and even crops can be planted. After a long time, the desert may become an oasis. Not only can photovoltaic power be used to generate electricity, but photovoltaic power plants can also grow crops. From this point of view, it is obvious that the ecological environment of the desert may be better than it is now.
However, to develop solar power generation business in the desert, we should also consider the problems of power transmission and energy storage. Solar power generation devices generate huge electricity during the day, but they can't generate electricity without the sun at night. In this way, how solar power generation devices can continuously transmit electricity to the power grid 24 hours a day is a problem that needs to be considered in the future. To solve this problem, we must use energy storage devices, or molten salt energy storage, or battery energy storage, or other lower-cost energy storage methods. As long as energy storage can be solved at a lower cost, solar power generation will certainly develop better and faster.
To sum up, Taklimakan desert may become an important photovoltaic power generation base in China. If we calculate, as long as 5% of the Taklimakan desert area is covered by solar power generation devices, it will basically be far higher than China's existing national power installed capacity of 2.44 billion. Moreover, the development of solar power stations can not only develop the economy, but also plant crops, which can improve and green the desert environment. It can be said that there are many things.