GCL System Integration Technology has announced that it is co-operating with China National Complete Engineering Corporation (CCEC) in the Chernobyl PV plant project, to help rebuild the “exclusion zone” with solar power 30 years after the Chernobyl accident.
The 1986 explosion and meltdown in Chernobyl released vast quantities of radiation, contaminating approximately 30 km2 of land with fallout.
The Ukrainian government now aims to give a new renewable life to the exclusion zone. In October, the country’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources claimed the plan to build a PV plant at Chernobyl.
“It’s cheap land and abundant sunlight constitute a solid foundation for the project. In addition, the remaining electric transmission facilities are ready for reuse,” says Ostap Semerak, Ukraine’s minister of environment and natural resources.
Two Chinese companies will play significant parts in Chernobyl’s revival. Whereas CCEC as the general contractor manages the overall project, GCL-SI offers consultancy and planning service as well as PV facilities to the project. According to GCL-SI, construction of the PV plant is expected to initiate in 2017.
“There will be remarkable social benefits and economical ones as we try to renovate the once damaged area with green and renewable energy. We are glad that we are making joint efforts with Ukraine to rebuild the community for the local people,” says Shu Hua, chairman of GCL-SI.
