Lifestyle

New Power Plant in China Made to Look Like an Adorable Panda

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Across 248 acres of land, the China Merchants New Energy Group built a new clean energy power plant with a special twist. When looking above the acreage, one can see the shape of a cartoon panda made out of solar panels. According to Business Insider, the panda was completed on June 30 and is “part of a larger effort to raise awareness among young people in China about clean energy.”

The Panda Green Energy Group website states that this is the “world’s first Panda Power Plant,” and the 50-megawatt plant is located in Datong Shanxi. Only half of the project is complete, so eventually, it will reach 100 megawatts.” A 100 MW Panda Power Plant can provide 3.2 billion kWh of green electricity in 25 years, equivalent to saving 1.056 million tons of coal, or reducing 2.74 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions,” they explain.

The China Merchants New Energy Group hopes to continue erecting many more clean energy power plants in the next five years throughout the country. They want to build “Panda Power Plants along the ‘Belt and Road’ countries and areas, and bring in the integrated multi-energy green ecological solutions.”

But according to Snopes.com, the photo which is currently circulating across the internet of the panda is actually an artist’s rendering of the power plant. If you were to fly over the plant right now, it would look rather different. See a real photo here. It’s still pretty cute, though it’s not as clear!