18th May 2026
China has just opened what is widely described as the world’s largest open-sea solar power project. A huge offshore installation off the coast of Dongying in Shandong province developed by CHN Energy. The project marks another step in China’s rapid push to turn parts of its coastline into vast renewable energy zones.
The scale is enormous. The offshore complex reportedly has around 1 gigawatt of generating capacity, using roughly 2.3 million solar panels spread across more than 1,200 hectares of sea. Instead of floating loosely on pontoons, many of the panels are mounted on steel structures fixed into shallow coastal waters around eight kilometres offshore.
The project is part of a much wider Chinese strategy that combines:
offshore solar;
offshore wind;
large battery storage systems;
aquaculture;
and ultra-high-voltage transmission links.
China is effectively industrialising sections of its coastline in the same way earlier generations industrialised coalfields and oil regions.
One of the most unusual features is what happens underneath the panels.
Rather than leaving the sea space unused, China is increasingly developing what it calls “solar + fisheries” systems. Fish, shrimp, shellfish and crab farming can operate beneath the solar arrays, allowing the same area to produce both electricity and food.
The concept sounds futuristic, but it is becoming a serious part of China’s coastal development strategy. In densely populated coastal provinces, land is expensive and heavily competed for. Authorities increasingly see combined-use infrastructure as more practical than dedicating huge areas solely to power generation.
Developers claim there are several advantages to combining solar and aquaculture:
cooler temperatures over water can improve solar panel efficiency;
reflected sunlight from the sea surface may slightly boost generation;
shading can reduce evaporation;
some aquatic species benefit from cooler or partially shaded water conditions;
and the infrastructure can generate two income streams from the same footprint.
Some estimates suggest offshore solar installations can perform between 5% and 15% better than comparable land-based projects because the panels stay cooler in sea air and strong coastal winds.
However, environmental concerns remain significant. Scientists are still studying how large shaded sea areas may affect marine ecosystems. Reduced sunlight penetration could alter plant growth, oxygen levels, algae development and local food chains. The long-term impacts may vary greatly depending on water depth, panel spacing, currents and the species being farmed underneath.
The projects also highlight the sheer scale of China’s energy ambitions. While many Western countries debate individual renewable schemes for years, China is deploying infrastructure on an almost industrial wartime scale. Even though it continues building coal and gas capacity, it is simultaneously constructing renewable energy systems at a pace unmatched elsewhere.
The result is that parts of China’s coast are starting to resemble giant multi-layered energy and food production zones — with solar panels above, fish farms below, batteries nearby and high-voltage cables carrying electricity inland to major cities and industrial centres.
Images of the Dongying offshore solar project can be viewed via CHN Energy press releases and renewable energy trade publications