Shell Solar wins mini-grid contract for remote Chinese villages

Shell Solar has won a $2.7 million contract to provide 200 kW of centralized solar installations to 26 villages in remote regions of China in 2004.     

© Shell Solar B.V. Growth: Shell Solar, which started selling solar home systems to China in 2001, is moving up to mini-grids.

The award, announced on Nov. 26, should lead to mini-grids in 17 villages in the southern province of Yunnan, with the rest going to Xinjiang in the northwest. The installations will supply electricity to 1,300 off-grid households.

The funding is coming from the Chinese Ministry of Finance and German Development Bank (KfW), which started a €10.2 million ($12.2 million) program for mini-grids in Feb. 2002 (see PI 6/2003, p. 24). 

While this is Shell Solar's first contract for mini-grids in China, the company has had a PV presence in the country since July 2001, when it won a €23 million ($27.6 million) contract to supply 78,000 solar home systems in Xinjiang. This included a €3.8 million ($16.5 million) grant from the Dutch government (see PI 9/2001, p. 20).

William P. Hirshman
© PHOTON International, January 2004