A China-based “green” energy company, Sunlan Solar Company Ltd., will be opening up an office on Saipan to assist the CNMI with its alternative “green” energy needs, according to a statement yesterday.
Sunlan Solar, headquartered in Jinan, Shandong province of China, said that it will fully finance, build, and operate solar photovoltaic power plants on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. Its overall goal is to create an immediate savings to end-users by as much as 50 percent or close to it.
“With the developments of solar power plants, the CNMI will experience lower power rates for the benefit of all consumers to include households, schools, institutions, as well as most private businesses in the islands,” the statement adds.
Sunlan Solar has extensive experience in the manufacture, installation, and operation of solar power. It has offices in Frankfurt, Germany; Los Angeles, Calif.; and three major offices in mainland China and is headed by its president and CEO, Samson Zhang.
Sunlan Solar recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the CNMI government to begin a pilot solar power plant project, starting with a 1-megawatt power plant for the purpose of conducting a feasibility study, with the intent to expand up to 20 MW once the certification and confirmation of the feasibility study is completed.
The company intends, during phase one, to break up the 20 MW project into 5 MW power plant each at four different locations throughout Saipan, to provide affordable power to the community and businesses alike. All solar power plants, as based on the MOA, will be built on leased public lands and, with the MOA signed, the company will immediately begin investing in the CNMI with the target of creating the first 5 MW power plant by the end of this year.
Other than providing affordable power rates on the islands, the company project will also create job opportunities to include future donations of various lighting solar products and other benefits to the community.
The company currently has an ongoing solar power plant project with a U.S. company, South California Edison Power Co., in California and a photovoltaic solar project with Frankfurt’s municipal government in Germany.
“The fact is, with the never ending rising cost of fuel globally, the CNMI’s energy needs will eventually have to be stabilized using the various alternative energy or power source currently available in the global market, such as the solar power, wind turbine, waste to energy, and geothermal system, etc.,” Zhang said.
Since Saipan is much closer to his hometown in China, Zhang is planning to make Saipan a second home for his family, aside from his family’s vacation home in California.
