Five Innovative Renewable Energy Projects That Promise a More Sustainable Future – State of the Planet

Noor Ouarzazate Solar Power Station

Sahara Desert, Morocco

Capacity: 580 MW

Spanning 7,400 acres of the Sahara Desert in Morocco, the Noor Solar Power Station near the city of Ouarzazate is one of the largest and most innovative solar power facilities in the world.

The Noor complex utilizes sophisticated concentrated solar power (CSP) technology to generate electricity. CSP works by using mirrors or lenses to focus sunlight onto a central receiver, where the intense heat is used to generate steam that drives a turbine—similar to traditional thermal power plants. Unlike photovoltaic (PV) panels, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, CSP systems generate thermal energy, which can be stored in materials like molten salt for use after sunset, enabling dispatchable, on-demand electricity. This ability to store energy gives CSP a major advantage over conventional solar PV in terms of grid stability and load balancing.

“Morocco, like many emerging economies, is considered high-risk by credit-rating agencies and private institutional investors, making it challenging for even strong, viable development projects to secure private-sector funding,” says Lisa Sachs, director of Columbia’s new MS in Climate Finance program. The Noor complex overcame these barriers by getting financed through a combination of debt and equity provided by international financial institutions, including the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank, adds Sachs. “This highlights the critical role that development finance plays in enabling clean energy investments in low- and lower-middle-income countries.”

However, if long-term growth in renewable energy capacity across Africa and other regions is to be sustainable, it can’t rely on development finance alone, says Sachs. “We also need to address the structural biases and systemic barriers that prevent private investment from flowing into these markets. Ensuring that emerging economies can access capital on terms comparable to developed countries is essential to achieving global climate and energy targets and fostering equitable and sustainable economic development.”

The Noor facility generates power for more than 1.1 million Moroccans and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 690,000 tons of CO₂ equivalent per year. It is a landmark example of sustainable development in Africa and other regions facing similar energy and environmental challenges.

Video: Inside the world’s biggest ‘mirror’ solar plant (BBC)

Three Gorges Dam

Sandouping, Yiling District, Hubei, China

Capacity: 22.5 GW

Spanning the mighty Yangtze River, China’s Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest power plant by installed capacity. It exemplifies both renewable energy’s potential at massive scales and the complexities inherent in significant environmental engineering projects. At approximately 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) in length and 180 meters (590 feet) high, the dam creates an immense reservoir, dramatically altering the Yangtze’s landscape. The dam’s 32 turbines generate enough electricity to power millions of homes, reducing China’s dependence on coal-fired energy production and drastically lowering associated greenhouse gas emissions.

Beyond renewable energy production, the Three Gorges Dam is instrumental in flood control, ship navigation and providing freshwater resources during the dry season. However, it has also triggered ongoing discussions about the environmental and social impacts of such large-scale infrastructure projects. The dam’s construction displaced some 1.3 million people, inundated cultural sites and natural habitats and has led to erosion and an increased risk of landslides. Scientists have even linked the immense weight of the reservoir’s water and its infiltration into geological faults to a significant increase in earthquakes in the surrounding area.

“Few, if any, future infrastructure projects are likely to match the scale of disruption caused by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam,” says Sagatom Saha, an adjunct research scholar at Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “Still, large-scale renewable projects—whether solar parks, wind farms or transmission corridors—raise their own concerns.”

The essential, longstanding environmental protections we have in the U.S., such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, have made it harder to rapidly build infrastructure needed to decarbonize, says Saha.

As policy makers from different sides of the political spectrum look for ways to simplify the permitting process while still protecting ecosystems and communities, “consensus remains elusive,” he says. “As we work to build the clean energy economy and meet the growing demands of data centers and AI, we should not forget the hard-won lessons from past energy infrastructure projects.”

Despite its controversies, the Three Gorges Dam remains an extraordinary feat of engineering, technological complexity, and scale.

Video: Building the world’s largest (and most controversial) power plant (TED-Ed)

Alta Wind Energy Center

Mojave Desert, California

Capacity: 1.55 GW

Located in the Tehachapi Mountains at the edge of the Mojave Desert, the Alta Wind Energy Center is one of the largest onshore wind farms in the world. The 600 turbines at the facility harness the winds that pass over the Tehachapi Range to provide clean electricity for up to 450,000 homes while preventing some 5.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere annually—the equivalent of keeping about a million gasoline cars off the road.

Alta Wind’s successful integration into the power grid also represents a significant achievement. Completed in 2016, the 173 mile (278 km) Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP) enabled renewable energy produced at Alta Wind to be delivered to densely populated urban areas in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. The TRTP transmission system has an expanded capacity of up to 4.5 gigawatts—enough to provide power for an estimated 3 million homes.

“Last year the United States generated more electricity from wind and solar combined than from coal, finally reaching this important milestone after a decade of sustained progress,” says Matthew Eisenson, senior fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. “Yet despite this progress, getting new wind and solar projects approved remains a significant challenge.

Local zoning is one of the primary hurdles, he explains. “The Sabin Center has documented restrictions in hundreds of towns and counties, including mandatory setbacks of up to two miles, which effectively block development,” says Eisenson.

In response, New York, California, Illinois, Michigan and other states have enacted comprehensive permitting reforms that limit the impact of local barriers on utility-scale renewable energy projects. On January 20, 2025, the president announced a federal pause on new and renewed approvals for onshore and offshore wind projects, introducing another “major obstacle to scaling up the nation’s renewable energy infrastructure, particularly wind power,” he adds.

In addition to creating thousands of construction and maintenance jobs and boosting local economies, the Alta Wind Energy Center is helping California achieve its ambitious goal of using 100% clean electricity by 2045.

Video: Largest Wind Farms in the U.S.

Yamakura Dam Floating Solar Plant

Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Capacity: 13.7 MW

Japan’s Yamakura Dam Solar Plant is an example of one of the newest and fastest growing types of renewable energy: floating solar. Located atop the surface of the Yamakura Dam reservoir, the floating installation covers 18 hectares (45 acres) with more than 50,000 PV solar panels and provides electricity for about 5,000 households.

Floating solar systems benefit from the cooling effects of water, which can improve panel efficiency and longevity compared with traditional land-based installations. Additionally, the shade and coverage provided by floating installations help conserve water by reducing surface evaporation. Floating solar also addresses the critical issue of land scarcity, a particular concern in densely populated regions like Japan. By utilizing a reservoir surface, the Yamakura Dam Solar Plant can produce energy for nearby communities without impacting agriculture, housing or the built environment.

“The growth of floating solar also illustrates another, broader phenomenon,” says Columbia Business School climate economist Gernot Wagner. “Solar panels are so cheap these days they’re being installed as everything from garden fences to carports. The solar fence may not be as cheap as wood quite yet, but it keeps the dog in and the car charged. Similarly, the floating panel may not be as cheap as a simple tarp, but it decreases evaporation and generates electricity to boot.”

The World Bank estimates that approximately 6,600 water bodies worldwide—including former coal mines, stone quarries and hydropower lagoons—could be suitable for floating solar installations. If just 10% of the surface area of these sites were utilized for solar generation, they could collectively produce up to a staggering 400 GW of renewable electricity.

Video: Kyocera TCL Solar LLC Floating PV Plant: Yamakura Dam

Hellisheiði Power Station

Hengill, Iceland

Capacity: 303 MW; additional heating

Iceland’s Hellisheiði Power Station, located near Reykjavík, is one of the world’s most technologically advanced geothermal energy plants. The facility taps into Iceland’s volcanic geology, drawing high-pressure steam and hot water from deep underground reservoirs to provide both electricity and heat to thousands of local homes and businesses.

Beyond energy production, the Hellisheiði Power Station also employs innovative carbon capture and storage methods through the CarbFix project. At Hellisheiði, carbon dioxide captured from geothermal emissions is dissolved in water and injected into underground basalt rocks, where it transforms into solid carbonate minerals, permanently locking away the CO₂. Additionally, less than a kilometer north of Hellisheiði, CarbFix’s Orca plant captures CO₂ directly from the air—a groundbreaking approach that could one day help reduce global atmospheric carbon emissions.