China General Nuclear Power Corporation branching out into wind, solar and nuclear resources
A picture-postcard vista of a wind farm built by China General Nuclear Power Corporation in France. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Over the past decade, China General Nuclear Power Corporation, from its home base in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, has left a global footprint spanning Asia, Europe, South America and Africa, emerging as a major player in the international clean energy industry.
As a globally influential clean energy company, CGN has been actively promoting cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, nuclear fuel, and renewable energy such as wind and solar power overseas, particularly in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.
"We are making efforts to contribute to the green development of the BRI, promoting the application of safer and more competitive high-tech, low-carbon technologies globally," said Yang Changli, chairman of CGN.
The group has mapped out a global development strategy that encompasses a "horizontal axis" anchored in Malaysia, which expands into other BRI countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, CGN has established two "vertical axes" in France and Brazil respectively, enabling expansion into Europe, Africa, and North and South America.
After a decade of development, CGN has installed a controlled power capacity of 11.6 million kilowatts in total across overseas markets.
A bird's-eye view of the Edra Malacca Power Plant, the largest gas-fired power plant in Southeast Asia built by CGN. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Over the past five years, CGN has provided more than 250 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity to 15 countries and regions including Malaysia, Bangladesh, France, Ireland, Brazil and South Korea. This has contributed to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 200 million metric tons, equivalent to the amount of carbon emissions absorbed by a forest of 544,000 hectares, the group figures reveal.
In Malaysia, CGN has built and operated the Edra Malacca Power Plant, the largest gas-fired power plant in Southeast Asia, through its subsidiary Edra Power Holdings.
The plant, equipped with the world's most advanced and efficient gas turbine technology, could meet nearly 10 percent of the total power demand on the Peninsular Malaysia, providing clean and stable power to 4 million households in the country, according to CGN.
CGN also built a solar plant in Malaysia's Kedah state in 2018, the first such project in the country, which now has been one of the largest single units of its kind in Malaysia with a total installed capacity of 50 megawatts.
Besides providing clean electricity to roughly 30,000 households each month, the project organized residents from the surrounding communities to participate in organic fruit cultivation in the plant's buffer zone, thereby increasing their incomes.
A wind farm built and operated by CGN in Brazil, where the Chinese company is one of the top 10 clean energy suppliers. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
In Brazil, CGN has developed and built the LDB wind power expansion project and the TN wind power project, while it also introduced China's mature wind turbine equipment industry chain into the Brazilian renewable energy market.
According to the chairman, the TN wind power project has brought together 24 Chinese companies in the upstream and downstream sectors of the industrial chain to Brazil, providing more than 1,000 job opportunities locally and meeting the power needs of 430,000 Brazilian households.
"With more than 40 years of excellent operation and construction experience in the domestic nuclear power and new energy fields, we could bring these experiences overseas while making local improvements," Yang said.
Based on the co-construction principles of the BRI, CGN continues to seek new partnerships and collaborations to enhance its contribution to the advancement of clean energy worldwide, according to the chairman.
He stated that CGN will continue to focus on the development and construction of the clean energy industry, promoting the optimization and upgrade of energy structure in project locations.
"We strive to build an international industry chain 'ecosystem' and turn the corporate vision of 'developing clean energy to benefit mankind' into a reality," Yang said.
