In China, three years ago, they began designing a solar power plant for transmitting energy to the Earth. The construction of the station was frozen for a while, but it was resumed a couple of months ago. Now the authorities plan to receive energy from 1 MW of the orbital station by 2030, and from 2049 — from 1 GW.
According to scientists from Chongqing University, their project found support from the authorities and business after setting a goal for a neutral carbon footprint in China by 2060. The orbital solar power plant will receive light 24 hours a day and transmit the received electricity in the form of microwave radiation to the earth. Losses in the atmosphere will amount to about 2%.
The station began to be built in the Bishan district. For these purposes, a land area of 2 hectares has been allocated. Local residents are strictly forbidden to go outside the construction site. At this stage, scientists are learning how to control energy with the help of balloons located at an altitude of 300 meters. The next stage is to obtain energy from an airship located 20 km away. Then the tests will be transferred to space.
Despite the grandiose plans, there are also concerns. One of them is that the microwave transmission of energy will harm the health of local residents, as well as there will be strong interference with electronics and wireless communication channels. All these questions will be studied during the experiments.