PARIS, Nov. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Founder and President Li Zhenguo of LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd or LONGi Group, a leading solar technology company, attended the 16th Fortune Global Forum in Paris, France. Mr. Li Zhenguo spoke at the roundtable discussion themed "China: New Frontiers for Growth", at the invitation of Fortune Magazine.
Mr. Li Zhenguo joined the discussion along with Fortune's executive editor Adam Lashinsky, McKinsey's Senior Partner Gregor Theisen and Godiva's CEO Annie Young-Scrivner, among many other business leaders. They shared options on the growth momentums of the China market and challenges companies are facing in China.
President Li Zhenguo, as the forum's few business leaders invited to speak on behalf of the PV sector, said he could share the voice from China's booming new energy sector, and he called for more support from the global business leaders for a synergized development for the solar power industry. Mr. Li said he hoped that the world can better use solar power to boost the global green transformation.
Innovation-driven Growth Can Allow PV Industry Better Support the Global Sustainable Development
Sustainable growth has long been the focus for global business leaders, especially on how to respond to the increasing challenges from the climate change. As there's increasing unpredictability on the global economic outlook, how companies can balance between growth and their go-green commitments, is a key topic of the Fortune Global Forum. On this, Mr. Li Zhenguo said that clean energy sources including the solar power will be the powerful solutions to tackle the climate issue.
Li added that it is not the best choice to slow down the climate change actions because of the downward global economic pressure, and the increase of carbon emission will greatly impact the economic growth. Mr. Li said, as the PV technologies have been evolving continuously, solar power has become the most economical energy source in some countries and regions in the world. "In this way", he added, "It is important to establish a new energy structure, centered with clean energy. This will provide a feasible solution to solve the dilemma between economic growth and climate issues."
Mr. Li Zhenguo elaborated by sharing some statistics, saying "the cost of solar power has reduced as much as 90% over the past 10 years, thanks to the upgrade in technology, manufacturing and business models". He added that in some regions in the middle east, the solar power price now is, in average, lower than 2 cents USD per kilowatt-hour, and will drop to below 1 cent per kWh in 10 years. And even in Europe, solar power prices will be lowered to 2 to 3 cents per kWh in the future. "This means solar power will become the most economical energy source in most regions in the world in a short period of time", Mr. Li says.
A Voice from China: LONGi's Green Energy ("Solar for Solar") Concept Attracts Attention
Li says he saw many changes to the Chinese economy, especially the on-going transformation of the energy sector and the entire manufacturing sector. "In many areas, China is now leading the world", he says, "While maintaining growth, the Chinese government and enterprises now pay greater attention to environmental protection and ecology".
In the new energy sector, especially the PV industry, LONGi and many other players are not only leading the global industry growth with advancement in technologies, their sustainable development approaches have also received more attention. Mr. Li said that since 2015, LONGi Group has been relocated some of their manufacturing facilities to Yunnan Province in south China, from the regions powered by fossil-fuel generated electricity, to regions that are mostly powered by hydro power. He said that manufacturing clean energy products using "unclean" energy is not a perfect solution, so LONGi Group hopes to produce more clean energy products using clean energy.
Mr. Li Zhenguo shared his initiative of "Solar for Solar" with the business leaders. He says "in the future, LONGi will make solar panels using solar power. And such approach will become a low-emission" or even zero-emission manufacturing process". He said that "Solar for Solar" will help optimize the global energy structure, and LONGi Group will continue its contribution on the sustainable and ecological growth for the world.
As a leading solar panel manufacturer, LONGi Group has invested heavily in R&D. Mr. Li said to drive growth with innovation, R&D investments now accounts for 5% to 7% of LONGi's annual revenue, much higher than the industry average.
During his visit to Europe, Li will meet with major partners in the region and discuss new ways of cooperation in the energy sector. He said he recognizes and appreciates the commitment from many European countries to transform to a greener energy structure, and he has full confidence to actively involve in this process. LONGi now has subsidiaries in Europe and has many successful projects.
