China Connects Biggest Desert Solar Plant in Effort to Curb Coal

China connected one of the world’s largest ever solar projects in an effort to curb coal consumption and reign in emissions.

The 4-gigawatt facility, located in the southeastern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, was linked to the grid on Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday without citing a source. This project alone is nearly the size of Canada’s entire solar capacity, according to BloombergNEF data.

This solar project is so far the biggest piece of an ambitious plan by the Chinese government to build 455 gigawatts of renewables across the country’ deserts this decade. The strategy is key to the ...