Canadian Solar Inc. has signed an agreement with the government of Suzhou New District to build the ‘Suzhou Solar Demonstration Park,’ a project that converts a deserted area into a municipality recreation site featuring a 300KW grid-connected solar power system. The park will also serve as a long-term outdoor reliability testing and demonstration ground for CSI modules using various new technologies.
This is one of the first solar power plant projects initiated after China adopted its Renewable Energy Law in January 2006. The Renewable Energy Law makes it mandatory for the State Electric Grid to connect to solar power and pay favorable feed-in tariffs. The execution procedure, however, is yet to be released. In August 2007, China’s National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) also published its national development strategy for renewable energy. According to this strategy, China targets to install 300 MW cumulative solar generation capacity by 2010 and 1.8 GW by 2020.
Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar Inc. commented: ‘We are very pleased to be selected to work together with the government of Suzhou New High-tech Development District (SND) to build this demo solar project. Solar power is quickly gaining recognition among policy makers in China. This site will become a live ‘Showroom’ to demonstrate to our customers the reliability and the superior engineering work competence of CSI products. This demo project will serve as a concrete example for government officials in other provinces and municipalities in their efforts to fulfill the targeted solar power capacity set by the NDRC. With China on its way towards a major solar market, this project will help us to gain first-mover advantage in this high- potential region.’
Ms. Wang Yaoshan, Director of Administrative Committee of Suzhou New High- tech Development District, said: ‘We initiated this project in an effort to reduce the use of fossil energy and to combat the global climate change. We seek a balance between economic development and environmental protection, as we work together with our central government to reach its goal of 1.8 GW solar power by 2020. CSI’s expertise in solar power stations has convinced us that CSI is the best partner to work with for our first solar project.’
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