Salt + light + tech = record-setting Chinese solar power station
- A massive array of panels erected at a salt farm in Tianjin is up and running, generating enough electricity for more than a million homes
- The field is also home to a thriving aquaculture business breeding shrimp
![The Huadian Tianjin Haijing power station generates both salt and electricity. Photo: Weibo](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/canvas/2023/07/10/49265cca-4c44-4717-9232-3eb41c79a231_89985af4.jpg?itok=JUzo7GnR&v=1688990850)
The world’s biggest combined solar power station and salt farm has been plugged into the grid in China, with a capacity to meet the electricity needs of 1½ million households, according to its operator.
State-owned China Huadian Corporation said the Huadian Tianjin Haijing power station, was connected to the grid in the northern municipality of Tianjin on Saturday.
The station comprises a vast array of solar panels erected over more than 13 square kilometres of the Changlu salt fields, one of the country’s oldest coastal salt farms.
The “salt-light complementary” system generates both electricity and salt, using double-sided solar panels that absorb direct sunlight from above as well as sunlight reflected from the water below.
![The panels add up to 1GW of installed capacity. Photo: Weibo The panels add up to 1GW of installed capacity. Photo: Weibo](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2023/07/10/36b3c5d6-e14d-48de-8e6b-03eabdcd5df7_1d021e01.jpg)
China Huadian said the station had an installed capacity of 1 gigawatt and would generate 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.
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