World’s largest renewable energy project is being developed in India

The world’s largest renewable energy project is being developed in India, which when ready will feature a staggering 30 GW power generation capacity.

Furthermore, this massive clean power generation park is going to be located in barren land at the western Indian state of Gujarat, roughly 12 miles from the country’s border with Pakistan, while it is called Khavda Renewable Energy Plant (KREP).

The project is going to occupy an area of about 200 square miles (500 square kilometers) for solar and wind power development, which is the equivalent of five times the area that the city of Paris does.

It is estimated that the plant is going to be completed in five years, while it will come at a cost of about $20 billion and will be able to power as many as 16 million households.

The project’s developers have also announced that they are planning to invest another $100 billion into the energy transition during the next decade, 70% of which is scheduled to go towards clean energy.

As for India’s goals, the government has set a target of reaching some 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, while it was announced in 2021 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the broader plan is achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.

It is worth noting that the country’s decarbonization task poses significant challenges, as it is projected that for the next 3 decades an equivalent of the population of London is going to be added to its urban environment each year.

In addition to this, it is also estimated that over the coming decade, there will be more than 600 million people coming into middle and upper incomes.

The aforementioned, combined with increasing heatwaves and demand for air conditioners in the country are expected to significantly increase India’s power needs in the near future.