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Remote Chinese provinces get German support for PV mini grids

The German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) signed a memo of understanding with China in mid-July worth €8 million ($7.9 million) for PV mini grids for remote villages in Gansu Province.

According to a KfW spokesman who asked not to be named, the deal won't be finalized until a contract is signed with the Chinese government, probably in mid-2003.

Most likely it will be similar to a pair of projects the KfW finalized in March to electrify 170 villages in the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang and Yunnan with PV mini grids (see PI 4/2002, p. 33). A consultant has been sent to China to select locations and coordinate tenders and product deliveries. According to the KfW, no money has been paid out yet, and no PV systems have been installed so far.

The projects, expected to take 30 months to finish, will be carried out by two Chinese partners. The Xinjiang Wind Energy Company will be responsible for Xinjiang, and Yunnan Brightness Engineering for Yunnan. The total project cost is €16.6 million ($16.5 million). The KfW is providing €10.2 million ($10.1 million), with the balance being covered by China.

The KfW involvement is connected to China's Brightness Program, aimed at providing electrification to 23 million people in the rural western regions of Xinjiang, Yunnan, Gansu, Tibet, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia by 2010, using solar, wind, and hybrid technologies.