The Hong Kong teenager behind China’s panda-shaped solar farms being built around the world
Ada Li Yan-tung’s bear-inspired sustainable energy concept will become reality in 100 panda-shaped solar farms on the route of Beijing’s infrastructure plan
When Hong Kong teenager Ada Li Yan-tung came up with the idea of building a solar farm shaped like a panda, she hoped merely to draw people’s attention to sustainable energy options.
To her amazement, her proposal became a reality, not just once, but a hundred times, going by an ambitious plan drawn up by a green energy firm that adopted her idea.
The 17-year-old’s bear-inspired concept, which she presented at a global forum two years ago, has blossomed into a massive project: the building of 100 panda-shaped solar power plants along the route of China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”, an unparalleled infrastructure plan that spans more than 60 countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Last week, the first such plant made its debut in Datong, northern Shanxi province, when a 50-megawatt solar farm shaped as two panda babies was connected to the grid.
“I didn’t think that it would actually be this big,” Li told the South China Morning Post from Datong. “I didn’t think that I could really do anything ... maybe just influence some people around me, but not on this scale.”