Suzhou sets a goal for new energy revolution

Workers install solar panels in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, where new energy industries have witnessed a robust growth in recent years. Photos provided to China Daily

Solar and renewable sources are set to form the centerpiece of the city's industrial upgrade

A 100-billion-yuan new energy industrial cluster has been formed in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, to ensure that the city ushers in a new era of clean energy.

Suzhou's new energy industry, including solar photovoltaic, new energy vehicles and batteries, generated 108.35 billion yuan ($15.95 billion) in revenue last year, and it will play a key role in the city's ongoing industrial upgrade.

Zhou Naixiang, Party chief of Suzhou, said: "The city will upgrade its energy industry and drive the development of green energy sources to realize its goal of becoming a model city in energy transition."

Zhou will attend the International Forum on Energy Transitions 2016, which is running from Oct 29 to 31, and he anticipates that it will give impetus to Suzhou's new energy revolution.

The forum is sponsored by the International Renewable Energy Agency, the Chinese National Energy Administration and Jiangsu provincial government.

It aims to chart clear and feasible pathways of decarbonizing energy production and provision over the next few decades, which is crucial if the ultimate goals set out in both the Paris Agreement and at the recent G20 Summit in Beijing are to be achieved.

Last year, Suzhou registered more than 50 billion yuan in revenue from the PV industry, and a number of the world's leading solar energy companies have established a presence in the city, including Nasdaq-listed Canadian Solar Inc, Golden Concord Holdings Ltd, and Zhongli Talesun Solar Co Ltd.

The city's more than 70 PV manufacturers account for one-third of Jiangsu province's total production and one-tenth of the national total. Specialty areas include PV battery materials and facilities, controling systems, and equipments, etc.

The PV industry saw rapid expansion in 2000, and a number of companies experienced rapid growth, which continued for the next decade.

In 2011, however, the industry was hit by a number of factors , including a price war, declining demand and anti-dumping complaints from both Europe and the US.

Renewable energies such as PV do, however, appear to have a promising future as China looks to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and tackle pollution. The future seems especially bright for those enterprises with a competitive edge in innovation.

Last year, China surpassed Germany as the world's largest generator of solar power, with its installed PV capacity reaching 43 gigawatts, and it is expected the country will increase its capacity this year.

In the first half of this year, China installed 20 GW of solar power capacity, three times as much as during the same period of last year. New energy vehicles are also a prominent part of Suzhou's industry chain, and by the end of this year the city is expected to have 7,000 new energy vehicles.

Suzhou aims to transform itself into a national model for new energy development, with a particular emphasis on innovation. As part of its transition from traditional energy to new energy, Suzhou aims to hit its carbon dioxide emission peak in 2020, before any other Chinese city. It is expected that emissions will begin to fall from 2020 onwards.

wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/29/2016 page18)