GCL SI on the solar industry’s role towards a sustainable supply chain at COP28

PV Tech: With COP28 underway, what does GCL SI expect of it? And what do you aim to bring to the conversation in the coming days?

Zhang Kun: The participation of GCL SI in COP28 is an important milestone for us as we pledge to contribute to the global sustainable development goals (SDGs), standing at the point of a green energy supplier. As renewable energy becomes the mainstream in the energy industry, renewables will contribute the most to achieving the SDGs. During this COP28, GCL SI will call on governments to vigorously promote the development of renewable energy, especially solar energy by breaking down existing trade barriers and uniting the strength of the whole industry.

There has been talk of tripling the renewables target by 2030, are there any challenges that could threaten that updated target?

Reaching this target would mean that installed renewable energy capacity would need to reach as much as 11TW. However, according to BNEF’s forecasts, the installed capacity of photovoltaics is expected to reach 5.8TW in 2030, and together with other renewable energy sources, it would only reach 9TW, which would fail to meet the 11TW target. The last time renewable energy capacity trebled its capacity, it took 12 years, and trebling it again this time would only give the world 8 years.

From the perspective of the PV industry, the biggest problem facing the industry today is the issue of PV consumption caused by policies, labour costs and grid connection restrictions. The PV industry is continuing to optimize cost and efficiency from raw materials, research and development (R&D), production and other aspects to meet the growing market demand for PV power generation. However, the circulation of solar energy and even other clean energy requires efforts not only from the industry, the market, policy and other aspects within the circulation link are also pivotal.

Aside from that, what other topics or conversations from renewables, and more specifically from solar PV, can we expect at COP28?

During this year’s COP28, pioneering enterprises committed to China’s “dual-carbon” action are invited to join the delegation of China Carbon Pathfinder Action to demonstrate the practice of Chinese enterprises in addressing climate change and carbon neutral action. GCL Group, as a pioneer enterprise practising green and low-carbon development, is also invited to join this delegation. Mr. Zhu Yufeng, President of GCL Group and Chairman of GCL SI, will participate in the initiative of building a global “carbon management” system for renewable energy.

How can companies such as GCL SI help parties at COP28 accelerate the green transition and targets?

Solar energy is the backbone of green energy which cannot be ignored. The installed capacity of PV will account for nearly 30% of the global installed renewable energy capacity in 2023. GCL SI has built up a fully integrated PV chain ranging from ingots, wafers, cells, and modules. Within these sectors, a closed loop has been constructed.

GCL SI possesses a 27GW high-efficiency module capacity, and with its own silicon resources, the module production can be run with fully self-sufficient silicon material. At the operational level, GCL SI is fully committed to building a low-carbon industrial chain by adhering to the sustainability concept. Through the carbon footprint traceability and block chain, GCL SI has been managing and certifying the carbon footprint of each module from the source, striving to reduce carbon emissions in each production process and practising the low-carbon concept from our own perspective.

Can you give some details about the keynote speech you’re having at COP28 and why are you focusing the topic on sustainable supply chain? What are the challenges towards that goal?

As a leading practitioner of integrated industrial chain in the industry, GCL SI has mature experience and rich achievements in the construction of sustainable supply chain. One of the key points in the sustainable supply chain that cannot be ignored is the management of carbon emissions at each step of the process. GCL’s zero-carbon industrial park, integrates the five industries which are wind, solar, hydrogen, storage and AI, is about to become a benchmark of sustainable supply chain, and my speech will also focus on the zero-carbon closed loop created by GCL in these five energy industries to introduce to the participants a feasible plan for the future development of new energy industry.

What will be the main focus for the solar industry this year at COP28?

In accordance with the Paris Agreement during COP21, which requires the global average temperature rise be limited to 2 degrees and, as far as possible, to 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-Industrial Revolution, the COP28 target of tripling the installed capacity of renewable energy by 2030 will put direct pressure on governments and renewable energy industry players. Putting forward commitments and targets is not enough to achieve the goal of temperature control.

We hope that during the COP28 process, we will be able to see governments reach further consensus on the actual implementation of emission reduction targets after the Paris Agreement was put forward, as well as the respective actions to reach the target of trebling renewable generation capacity in the future, so that participants in the industry can see the confidence in accelerating the energy transition from their own perspectives. In addition, for the increasingly important carbon verification in the trading process, we also care about the harmonisation and consensus on the measurement and accounting methods of the emission intensity of each country’s products.