Updated September 2026.
Deserts get more sunshine than anywhere else on Earth, have plenty of open land, and in many places have strong, steady winds. The idea of powering the world from them is old. What’s new is that it’s actually happening, on a scale that would have seemed fantastical ten years ago.
Desert power today
- China is building giant “megabases” of wind and solar in its northern deserts. One in the Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia is planned at about 8 GW of solar and 4 GW of wind, roughly the output of several large power stations. Controversially, it is backed up by 4 GW of coal plants.
- India’s Bhadla Solar Park in the Thar Desert covers 56 square kilometers and produces about 2.2 GW.
- The United Arab Emirates’ Al Dhafra plant, near Abu Dhabi, packs 2 GW of panels onto a single site, one of the largest in the world.
- Morocco’s Noor Ouarzazate complex (about 580 MW) uses mostly concentrated solar power, mirrors that heat molten salt, so it can keep generating for hours after sunset.
The real challenges
- Distance. Deserts are usually far from the cities that need power, so new transmission lines are often the costliest and slowest part of any project. The ambitious plan to send Moroccan solar and wind power to Britain through 2,300 miles of undersea cable (the Xlinks project) lost UK government backing in June 2025.
- Heat and dust. Solar panels actually lose efficiency as they get hotter, and a layer of dust can cut output noticeably. Many desert plants now use robots that brush panels clean without water.
- Water. Solar panels and wind turbines need almost no water to run. The exception is concentrated solar, which needs cooling. Most desert thermal plants now use air cooling instead of water, at some cost to efficiency.
- Cheap panels beat mirrors. California’s Ivanpah solar thermal plant, once a showpiece, became too expensive compared with ordinary solar panels. In 2025 its owners agreed to end two of its three power contracts early and close those units.
- Deserts aren’t empty. They are fragile ecosystems. In the Mojave, big solar farms have had to relocate threatened desert tortoises. Local and Indigenous communities increasingly want a real say and a share of the benefits.
Where it’s heading
Cheap panels, cheap batteries to cover the evening, and new high-voltage lines are turning deserts into some of the lowest-cost power sources on the planet. Some desert countries are also planning to use that cheap power to make hydrogen or green steel on site, and export those products instead of electricity.
More: Concentrated Solar Power and High-Power DC Transmission.
