JinkoSolar has restarted solar cell production at its plant in Haining, China after receiving approval by the local Haining government and an appointed panel of experts that remediation work after a fluoride chemical leak satisfied environmental requirements. Clearance by the ‘Experts Committee’ was issued to JinkSolar on October 9, according to the company.
“While we have always been fully committed to environmental safety and social responsibility, we understand from this accident that we always need to think about extreme and unforeseen circumstances and generally enhance our risk management practices,” commented Li Xiande, chairman of JinkoSolar. “We will apply the lessons we have learned in all our production facilities for the benefit of the environment, the community and all our stakeholders.”
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JinkoSolar also noted for the record that on September 28, a committee of experts appointed by the Haining government had approved a set of recommendations developed by Jinko’s appointed ‘Licensed Engineers’ that would be implemented by Jinko.
On October 6, the Experts Committee, the Environmental Bureau of the Haining government, and representatives of Hongxiao Village reviewed the steps taken by the company based on the recommendations of the Experts Committee and provided their comments to JinkoSolar's management.
This led to the Experts Committee notifying Jinko that it was ‘satisfied with the steps taken by the company.’
In respect to the demonstrations at the plant by local residents and outsiders that led to international media coverage, JinkoSolar will be establishing greater communication with local residents.
“We are expanding our outreach to the communities surrounding our production facilities. We have proposed regular meetings with Hongxiao Village officials to discuss issues of mutual interest,” noted CEO Chen Kangping. “Additionally, we are finalizing our selection of an international environment, health and safety [EHS] company to perform a full scale audit of all our facilities. The management team decided to take this additional step as a testimony to the high international standards that we hold ourselves to. We believe that enhancing environmental performance and improving relationships with nearby communities will lead to increased shareholder value.”
PV-Tech has requested further details from JinkoSolar regarding the technical and practical actions taken by the company, which have yet to be disclosed in any detail.