Hanwha Q CELLS Donates Solar Modules Again... Lighting Up Colombia with Destroyed Power Grid

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] Hanwha Q CELLS, the green energy division of Hanwha Solutions, announced on the 19th that it donated solar modules to the La Guajira region of Colombia, where the power grid was destroyed by hurricane damage. The donation amounts to a total of 310kW and is scheduled to arrive at the port of Cartagena, Colombia, in August. It will be used to restore the power infrastructure of educational facilities serving approximately 5,600 students through the Power Management Agency (IPSE) under the Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Colombia's power, communication, and water infrastructure were damaged by Hurricanes Eta and Iota, which struck Latin America in November last year. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), La Guajira Province, where Hanwha Q CELLS is donating solar modules, suffered damage affecting 14,470 households and 68,883 people due to the hurricanes. Solar power generation can operate as centralized power generation, producing large amounts of electricity in one location and supplying it to consumption areas, like coal-fired power plants, but it also has advantages in distributed generation, producing and consuming electricity near the usage area. Therefore, solar power generation is advantageous for supplying electricity to areas like La Guajira, where the power grid has been destroyed.

In addition to this donation, Hanwha Q CELLS has consistently carried out social contribution activities using solar energy both domestically and internationally. In 2011, during the Great East Japan Earthquake, it supported solar power generation facilities at schools in the Tohoku region of Japan, where the power grid, including nuclear power plants, was destroyed.

In 2019, Hanwha Q CELLS also donated solar modules to the 'Clean Up Mekong' campaign conducted by Hanwha Group. Clean Up Mekong is a campaign that produced solar-powered water garbage collection boats operating with eco-friendly solar energy instead of fossil fuels to clean the Mekong River, one of the world's ten most polluted rivers, and donated them to Vinh Long City, Vietnam.

Domestically, Hanwha Q CELLS is also cooperating with Hanwha Group in the 'Happy Sunshine' campaign, which installs solar power generation facilities free of charge at social welfare facilities nationwide. Over the past 10 years since 2011, it has donated solar power generation facilities totaling 2,187kW to 320 social welfare facilities nationwide. This capacity is enough to supply electricity for about 720 households annually.

Hanwha Q CELLS is also participating in Hanwha Group's 'Forest of the Sun' campaign, which has been creating eco-friendly forests by planting seedlings grown through solar power generation since 2011 to address climate change and fine dust issues. Through the 10th anniversary of the Forest of the Sun campaign this year, Hanwha Group has created seven forests in Korea, China, and Mongolia and planted about 500,000 trees.

Kim Hee-chul, President of Hanwha Q CELLS, stated, "Solar energy is an effective way to environmentally solve various problems faced by the Earth's inhabitants," and added, "We will take the lead in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management and creating social value by providing green energy solutions including solar energy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.