Massive 200-square-mile solar farm is on the way to being created in California to generate enough energy to power entire cities

In an exciting renewable energy move, a massive 200-square-mile solar farm is being created in California – and it’s hoped that it will generate enough energy to power entire cities.

The huge clean-energy project is moving forward in the San Joaquin Valley and could eventually produce an eye-watering 21,000 megawatts of electricity.

It is also set to include giant battery storage facilities, which would help hold onto power until it is needed most.

And while it sounds like something from the future, the people helping push it along are actually farmers looking for a new use for land they can no longer reliably irrigate.

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Massive 200-square-mile solar farm is on the way

The proposed development is backed by Westlands Water District and Golden State Clean Energy, and if it is fully built out, it would become one of the most ambitious solar tech projects anywhere in the world.

Farmers in this part of California have been dealing with worsening water shortages for years, and new limits on groundwater pumping mean huge stretches of land are now being left unused.

Rather than watching that dry land sit idle, some growers are embracing solar as a fresh opportunity.

One farmer involved in the plan described it as dealing with the cards they have been dealt, while another put it even more simply by calling electricity a ‘new crop‘.

It is a dramatic shift for a region known for agriculture, but for many landowners, it could provide a guaranteed income stream while allowing them to keep farming other parts of their property, because there’s no lack of sunshine in California.

It has the power to generate enough energy to power entire cities

The scale of the project is the big talking point here, because developers say it has to be enormous to justify the cost of building new high-voltage transmission lines.

Those lines would carry the electricity from the San Joaquin Valley to major population centers including Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.

Construction could take around a decade, but the plan already took a major step forward after Westlands Water District voted in December to move ahead.

Around 150 farmers in the district have reportedly signed up to host solar on some of their land, showing just how serious the momentum has become.

There are still questions over how nearby farmworker communities will benefit, especially if less agricultural land means fewer traditional jobs.

But supporters believe the solar farm project could become a blueprint for other parts of California, where more dry, sunny land may soon be redirected from crops to clean energy.

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