The so-called Chinese ‘coal capital’, Datong, located in northern Shanxi province, is looking at solar energy to kickstart the economy after coal mining depleted local neighbourhoods, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The city plans to install 3000MW of photovoltaic systems between 2015 and 2017.
“Infrastructure construction started in 2015 to turn the uninhabitable swaths into a huge photovoltaic base,” the news agency quoted energy official with the municipal Commission of Development and Reform, Zhao Yaodong, as saying.
In June, some of the newly developed photovoltaic facilities were connected to the state grid, local media said. The city hopes the solar industry will create new jobs for the region.
Meanwhile, the city has been relocating residents from mine-depleted areas. In the end of August, Datong’s Commission of Development and Reform said that it has resettled up to 250,000 people and will relocate the remaining 120,000 residents by the end of 2017.
Another key thing about the project is that the resettled residents will receive some share of the profits from the photovoltaic developments installed in the city.
At its peak, which was in 1999, Datong produced over 7.5% of China’s annual coal output.
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