Powering forward to tackle climate change

In September, China General Nuclear Power released a report on sustainable development in Paris.

As the first Chinese enterprise to issue such a report in France, the company, also known as CGN, detailed its actions and contributions made in economic, environmental and social aspects to achieve the goal of sustainable development.

Climate change has become a challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. The solutions to dealing with climate change, like cutting down carbon emissions and green development have won global attention.

CGN Chairman He Yu said at the report's launch that as a clean energy supplier and service provider, the company adheres to the highest standards. It creates jobs and makes economic contributions to the wider society.

As a company focusing on clean energy such as nuclear power, nuclear fuel, wind power and solar power, CGN's installed capacity of clean energy increased to 53.53 gigawatts by the end of August, according to He.

In 2018, their on-grid power reached 220.5 billion kilowatt-hours worldwide. This helped to cut 160 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere, equivalent to planting more than 440,000 hectares of trees.

In Europe, the installed capacity of CGN's clean energy has exceeds 1 GW. The cumulative power provided by the company reached 4.3 billion kWh and the carbon emissions reduced were equivalent to planting about 10,000 hectares of forests.

The release of the report in the birthplace of the Paris Climate Agreement reflects CGN's determination to develop clean energy and highlights its contribution to saving global energy, cutting down carbon dioxide emissions and dealing with climate change, He said. The cooperation between China and France in the energy sector has a long history. CGN has maintained long-term cooperation with its French partners, including energy suppliers EDF and Framatome.

More than 30 years ago, CGN joined hands with EDF and Framatome to build Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant. The large-scale commercial plant was the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland.

After 2000, CGN and EDF worked together in the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant project, one of the largest cooperative projects between China and France in the energy sector.

The Chinese Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, said that CGN is regarded a major force in Sino-French nuclear energy cooperation. The work over the past 30 years has created new development models and fostered new friendship between the countries.

(China Daily 11/06/2019 page13)