Power Panda packs a punch

Chinese solar farm will provide 3.2bn kilowatt-hour of green electricity

In a world-first, China has built a large solar farm shaped like the iconic black and white giant panda.

The station will have a have a capacity of 100 megawatts when fully connected, providing 3.2 billion kilowatt-hour of green electricity in 25 years.

That is equivalent to saving 1.056 million tonnes of coal, or reducing 2.74 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The panda-shaped power plant, a project backed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will help get young people to engage with sustainable development.

“Designing the plant in the shape of a panda could inspire young people and get them interested in the applications of solar power,” said Li Yuan, CEO at Chinese company Panda Green Energy that built the station.

Young candidates from around China will be recruited to participate in summer camps at the panda power stations, with a focus on providing them with a deeper understanding of green energies, The Telegraph reported. There are also plans to bring panda power stations to Fiji and the Philippines, with the aim of building 100 across the globe over the next five years.