The world’s largest solar power plant at a single location is online in southern India. With a capacity of 648 megawatts (MW), the facility is made up of 2.5 million photovoltaic solar modules spread over 10 km2 (3.9 mi2), and marks a step forward for the Indian government’s ambitious renewable energy goals.
Situated at Kamuthi in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the plant was constructed in eight months for a cost of about Rs4,500 crore (US$662 million). Its capacity tops the previous record of 550 MW held in a tie between two facilities in California, the Topaz Solar Farm and the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm.
With the new facility, India is poised to become the third-largest solar market in the world in 2017, following only China and the US.
