Chinese panel maker Yingli Solar has started construction of a 50-megawatt solar project in Huangshi City in Hubei Province, China.
The project will be located on 100 hectares of land in western Huangshi City and will comprise 170,000 sets of multicrystalline solar panels that are expected to generate approximately 55,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually, which will offset the consumption of nearly 22,000 tons of coal and the emission of over 50,000 tons of carbon into the atmosphere.
The system is start operating in the fourth quarter of 2015. Huangshi City was a designated a pilot city for the reclamation of abandoned mining lands and former industrial sites by China’s Ministry of Land and Resources in January 2013. The solar project will serve as a demonstration project for the integration of solar power into land revitalization programs across China.
“This highly replicable project shows how solar power can be integrated into ecological restoration programs, stimulating the local economy and providing clean power to the community while simultaneously aiding in land revitalization,” commented Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli. “We’re pleased that our first project on degraded mining lands will deliver concrete economic and environmental benefits to the surrounding community.”