Beijing: China, which is building the world’s largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, has announced another mega project to harness solar energy. The dragon has named the new initiative ‘Three Gorges Dam Project in Space’. Its blueprint has been designed by China’s famous rocket scientist – Long Lehao.
Under this project, a massive solar panel measuring one kilometre wide will be deployed in the geostationary orbit, which is located 36,000 kms above Earth. This panel will continuously collect solar energy. Interestingly, the day-night cycles or weather conditions will not effect the panel from collecting the solar energy.
Long compared the energy from this project to China’s Three Gorges Dam, which produces about 100 billion kWh of electricity each year.
Notably, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is so big that American space agency NASA claimed it affected Earth’s rotational speed.
Long said, “We are working on this project. It’s as significant as taking the Three Gorges Dam to a geostationary orbit 36,000 km (22,370 miles) above Earth. This is a remarkable project we are eagerly awaiting. The energy gathered in a year would be equivalent to all the oil that can be extracted from the Earth.”
The project will require specialised technology. To support such a vast structure, China will need to develop super-heavy rockets. This includes two types – the CZ-5 rocket, which is about 50 meters long, and the CZ-9 rocket, which can reach up to 110 meters. These rockets will be used in the construction of space-based solar energy stations.
It is to be noted that, space-based solar energy stations that collect solar power in Earth’s orbit and transmit it to the ground station have long been discussed in scientific circles. It is also referred as the ‘Manhattan Project’ of the energy sector. This idea has been a topic of conversation among scientists for decades.
This mega project has the potential to bring a revolution in the energy sector. China’s current plans and its steps toward actualising them appear serious.
However, there is no information available regarding the cost and technical challenges of the project.
It will be interesting to see how China brings this ambitious project to fruition.
