A giant panda is providing electricity in North China.  Or rather, a solar power station shaped like one. It's gone into operation in Datong in Shanxi Province. The project has been promoted by the UN Development Program.  And more panda solar plants are expected to be built in other countries as well.  Hu Chao reports.

 

The world's first panda-shaped solar station has begun operating at full capacity in the city of Datong in northern China's Shanxi Province. The Panda Green Energy Group began building this solar plant in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program in 2016.

 

HU CHAO DATONG, SHANXI PROVINCE  "This solar power station has nearly 170,000 panels, covering an area of over a million square meters. Over the next 25 years, it's expected to save more than a million tonnes of coal, and also to reduce millions of tonnes of emissions."

 

The new solar plant has already reached an initial capacity of 50 megawatts and will produce 100 megawatts of clean electricity next year. The station was built with black and off-white photovoltaic panels, making it look like giant pandas from above. The idea came from a 17-year-old Chinese girl who studies at a high school in the United States. She came up with the idea after she attended the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.

 

LI ENTONG CHINESE STUDENT "Personally I love pandas so much. I can tell them apart from the image and each of their name. Panda is my favorite animal. Besides that, panda is not only a figure of animal protection, a figure of China, but also a figure of peace."

 

Li Entong is among around 50 teenagers taking part in a summer camp at the Panda solar station. The camp was initiated by the United Nations Development Program, aiming to foster youth leadership in tackling climate change.

 

LI ENTONG CHINESE STUDENT "To bring more teenagers like me and the next generation into being more active in this movement. That's the most important."

 

The Panda Green Energy Group plans to build around 100 similar plants in countries and regions along the Belt and Road. The group says the project is not just about using a fun image to get people interested in solar energy, its also about technological innovation.

 

ZHU ZHU DIRECTOR OF BEIJING OFFICE, THE PANDA GREEN ENERGY GROUP "We use three different kinds of cells. It's very difficult to use them together. They have different color, that's why we can make it like a panda-shaped plant." Hu Chao, CGTN, Datong, Shanxi Province.