China-based global solar manufacturing giant Longi will soon use only clean energy to produce clean energy after pledging to source 100% renewable electricity across its entire global operations by 2028.
The 2028 target, and an interim target of 70% by 2027, was unveiled on March 12 after the company announced it had officially joined the global Climate Group-led RE100 initiative last week.
In a statement, the company’s founder and president Li Zhenguo said Longi firmly believed that a global goal of 100 per cent renewables could be achieved by 2050 – “even possibly sooner.”
“Joining the global RE100 initiative is LONGi’s commitment to the sustainable future of the world,” Li said.
“We will take concrete steps to ensure that our commitments are achieved. LONGi is willing to work with global partners to drive the global energy transformation, and we firmly believe that the goal of 100% renewable energy worldwide by 2050 can be achieved, even possibly sooner.”
Longi didn’t go into great detail about how it intends to make the shift, but notes in the release that its key manufacturing hubs in China’s Yunnan and Malaysia’s Kuching are located in regions rich in hydropower.
The company has also installed around 1.5GW of commercial and industrial rooftop solar systems on its production facilities, and developed more than 2GW of ground-mounted solar, cumulatively.
“In the future, LONGi will realize its ‘Solar for Solar’ concept of manufacturing clean energy products using 100% clean energy and achieve a negative carbon earth,” the company’s statement said.
Longi also claims to be “one of the first photovoltaic enterprises” to buy ‘Green Electricity Certificates.’
Longi’s commitment to 100 per cent renewables, and membership of RE100, follows the example of fellow China PV giant Jinko Solar, which in September 2019 pledged to go all-renewable by 2025, and also joined the global RE100 initiative.
The Climate Group welcomed Longi to RE100 and urged more Chinese companies to follow suit.
Major solar technology company @LONGiGroup has today joined #RE100! They aim to achieve 100% renewable electricity across their entire global operations by 2028: https://t.co/kE1ZxNfflb We hope to see more Chinese companies follow their example and sign up. @ClimateGroup @CDP pic.twitter.com/iIzosCMEPT
— RE100 (@theRE100) March 11, 2020
“The Climate Group and LONGi are fully aligned in the concept of sustainable development,” said Climate Group CEO Helen Clarkson. “We hope to work with LONGi to jointly promote the rapid development of global renewable energy.”
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
