China mulling re-creating ‘Three Gorges Dam project’ in space. Here is how

China is undertaking another ambitious energy megaproject after announcing construction of the world's largest dam, this time in space. A senior Chinese scientist has dubbed the project as "another Three Gorges Dam project above the Earth". South China Morning Post reported that the scientist, Long Lehao, is planning to use superheavy rockets to build solar power stations in space.

The project would involve a space-based solar station generating power in the orbit and then transmitting the same to Earth.

Such solar power stations can generate electricity without being affected by day-night cycles, said the report.

“We are working on this project now. It is as significant as moving the Three Gorges Dam to a geostationary orbit 36,000km (22,370 miles) above the Earth. This is an incredible project to look forward to,” said Lehao, a rocket scientist and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).

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The sheer size of the project has prompted experts to compare it with The Three Gorges Dam in central China, the world’s largest hydropower project. The dam is situated in the middle reaches of the Yangtze, China’s longest river. Once fully operational, it would be able to generate 100 billion kWh of power annually.

“Imagine installing a solar array 1km wide along the 36,000km geostationary orbit,” Long said while delivering a speech at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in October.

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The Chinese scientist has claimed that solar energy collected through the megaproject annually would be equivalent to the energy that Earth’s entire oil reserves can generate.

He added that deploying the solar system in space would require the development of super-heavy rockets.

Long argued that Long March-9 (CZ-9), a reusable heavy-lift rocket developed by his own team, can be harnessed to transport the heavy equipment to the Earth’s orbit.

(With inputs from agencies)