BEIJING: Today the first Chinese company has signed up to RE100, a campaign led by The Climate Group, in partnership with CDP and supported by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which supports major companies committed to 100% renewable power across their operations.
Elion Resources Group is a leading desert and urban environmental restoration business, with total assets of more than RMB100 billion (over US$16 billion) and listed among the ‘Top 100 Chinese Private Enterprises’.
As part of its commitment to join RE100, Elion aims to go 100% renewable no later than 2030. The company is already on the right track, having financed an on-grid 110 megawatt (MW) solar PV power station in the Kubuqi desert and planning a new 5,000 MW solar PV project.
Elion's chairman, Wang Wenbiao says: "We joined RE100 to demonstrate our commitment and continued efforts to lead China's clean revolution. The Elion Group is focusing on green energy in our corporate strategy to adapt to a new era where natural resources and environment have become a major constraining factor of human development. Now with the Internet and innovative financial instruments, I feel more confident than ever that we will achieve 100% renewable energy for Elion's own energy needs while becoming a lead player in the clean energy landscape before 2030. And I hope more and more business leaders from China and around the world will join this campaign and contribute to a cleaner future.
Changhua Wu, Greater China Director, The Climate Group, said: “We welcome Elion as the first Chinese company to join RE100. The development of a prosperous market for low carbon energy will transform China’s socio-economic landscape by reducing emissions, generating jobs and attracting new clean investment, creating a positive impact that will reverberate globally. But a successful transition to a clean revolution in China hinges on business leadership, so we look forward to many more of the region’s leading companies joining this important campaign – especially so in the critical year before the global climate talks in Paris.”
ABOUT RE100
The RE100 campaign was launched at the Climate Week NYC on September 22, 2014. Since its launch, 16 companies have joined the campaign and made a public commitment to go 100% renewable. The following companies have joined so far: BT Group, Commerzbank, Formula E, H&M, IKEA Group, KPN,Mars, Nestlé, Reed Elsevier Group, J. Safra Sarasin Bank, SAP, SGS, Swiss Re and YOOX Group.
The aim of the campaign is to share the business case for renewable power, increase private sector demand for renewable power and accelerate the transformation of the global energy market, thus enabling the transition to a prosperous low carbon future.
The campaign’s first report, RE100: The journey to 100%, was launched in January on the opening day of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, at an event organised in partnership with Masdar and IRENA.