中国日报英文版：Shandongs Solar Valley basks in success
2010-8-11 18:02:38      　  　新闻来源：中国日报　　　　         点击数:次

中国日报原文

Single company makes twice as many water heaters as all of North America

More than 30 world-leading solar energy companies will attend the fourth International Solar Cities Initiative World Congress this September in Dezhou, a city in Shandong province.

The conference is expected to display Dezhou's latest achievements in harnessing the energy of the sun. It was among the first cities in the nation to grasp the potential of solar energy and now has more than 110 companies in the sector.

The city's new energy companies generated 15 billion yuan in revenues in the first half of this year, an increase of 33 percent over the same period in 2009.

22 billion yuan

The sector had 22 billion yuan in revenues all of last year.

Lei Jianguo, Party chief of Dezhou, said the city will use the congress as an opportunity to further boost development of the solar energy industry to become a national and international leader in the field.

Chief among Dezhou's sustainable energy companies are China Himin Solar Energy Group, Ecoo Solar Energy Group and Tenglong New Energy Co Ltd.

The number of solar water heaters made by Himin - the largest producer in the world - now equals the total production of the European Union and twice the output of North America.

Himin has also founded China Solar Valley in Dezhou - the largest R&D center for solar energy in the world - with more than 500 new innovations put into production every year.

According to Lei, Solar Valley is on track to be a world-class center for research, development and testing of renewable energy equipment, sources and logistics.

A complete industrial chain has already taken shape to make solar energy products ranging from water heaters to batteries and photovoltaic systems, lighting and energy-saving glass.

Using solar energy in Dezhou itself has saved more than 640,000 tons of coal used for power generation every year and reduced carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions of by 1.71 million tons and 16,000 tons respectively.

Incentives in place

To further boost the industry, the city government has implemented a number of preferential policies including incentives in taxation and land use, and help for enterprises to be listed on stock exchanges, Lei said.

Another stimulus measure is a government requirement that all new residential buildings in Dezhou must utilize some form of solar energy.

Ninety-five percent of the city's urban rooftops are now having solar water heaters, while more than 200 villages use solar energy to heat water.

Street lamps and signal lights powered by solar energy are also widely used.

The city government is now cooperating with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutions to strengthen the overall R&D capacity in Dezhou.

To date, the city's companies have invented 589 patented solar technologies and products.

In addition to solar energy, Dezhou is also encouraging development of other new energy industries including biomass energy and wind power equipment manufacturing.