A giant panda is the shape of the new photovoltaic plant built in China, which has just come into operation. A power station that is beautiful to look at, but whose main ambition is to speak to young people about sustainability.
China, the world's largest producer of solar energy, saw Panda Green Energy Group bring a new solar plant into operation at the end of June — one that has already become the most famous, if not the most charming, ever built on Earth. The plant is shaped like a giant panda, an animal particularly dear to the Chinese and the ultimate symbol of nature protection.
Among the most beautiful solar plants in the world, another one can now be added — one that will not only be beautiful but will also attract the curiosity and affection of many, particularly the youngest. The Panda power plant in Datong, located in northeast China, is a photovoltaic plant with a total installed capacity of 50 megawatts in the shape of a giant panda. The panda's black parts, such as the ears and arms, are made up of monocrystalline silicon solar cells supplied by Chinese firm Xi'an Longi Silicon Materials Corp, while the belly and the grey-and-white face are composed of thin-film solar cells manufactured by First Solar, an American company. An original way to integrate two of the world's most cutting-edge solar technologies within a single plant, while celebrating China's symbolic animal.
The Panda power plant was built as part of an agreement between the United Nations development programme (Undp) and China merchants new energy (Cmne), in support not only of the spread of renewable energy but also to promote the growth of public awareness of environmentally friendly technologies and sustainable development, as well as to encourage the participation of young people in innovation for social good.
In addition to supplying clean electricity, the new photovoltaic plant aims to engage young people in China and other parts of the world in promoting the sustainable development goals, and to provide a platform for soliciting ideas on how to help different countries tackle some of the most difficult challenges of the near future. With this in mind, the plant will also host an education and training centre for children and students, where the workings and benefits of solar energy will be explained.
The overall Panda power plant project is far more ambitious and will not stop at the completion of this first phase. The final total installed capacity will be 100 megawatts, spread across an area of approximately 100 hectares. Once complete, the Datong plant will be capable of generating a total of 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy over the next 25 years, saving — according to calculations by the developer, Panda Green Energy Group — 1,056 million tonnes of coal and reducing carbon emissions by 2.74 million tonnes, equivalent to the emissions of 73,000 cars over 25 years.
Given the success of this first plant, Panda Green Energy Group plans to install further panda-shaped solar power stations in China over the next five years. The projects will be located in the "Belt and Road" areas — that is, the regions targeted by the economic development strategy set out by Chinese President Xi Jinping, which focuses on connectivity and cooperation among Eurasian countries. However, the company does not rule out that projects of this kind could also be realised outside the Land of the Dragon, in other regions where the local symbolic animal might be celebrated: koalas, rhinoceroses, pandas and other animals that will fill our future with clean energy.