Suntech and Peak International win UN green-energy contract

By Rong Xiaozheng and Wang Yu 

An employee checks solar power panels. China's largest solar panel maker Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd and a Tianjin-based trading company have won an $81 million contract from the United Nations.

[Photo / Bloomberg]

TIANJIN - Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd, China's largest solar panel maker, and Peak International Trade (Tianjin) Co Ltd, have won a $81 million contract to provide portable solar power systems to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions. The deal is the largest single UN contract to have been won by Chinese companies.

Solar products procured by the UN are portable solar-power systems, which will be delivered to the International Peacekeeping Force and its subordinate entities globally. The contract may be extended by two years, or even longer, if the operation is successful in the coming three years.

"It is currently a framework agreement because the final purchasing list has not been decided upon yet. Suntech will provide products in accordance with the UN's detailed requirements," Zhang Jianmin, a senior press manager with Suntech, told China Daily.

Suntech will primarily provide systems integration, including product delivery, installation and after-sales services.

Zhang said that the New York Stock Exchange-listed Suntech is not only a product manufacturer but is also now a systems integrater.

"During the past decade, the majority of Suntech's products have been exported. In the future, in addition to small-scale residential electricity projects, Suntech will probably carry out large-scale photovoltaic projects abroad, such as 700 megawatt (mW) power plants," Zhang stressed.

Shi Zhengrong, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Suntech, said that cooperation with Peak International Trade Co enabled Suntech to compete for the UN contract. Now, as the winning bidder, Suntech Power is promoting its small photovoltaic products worldwide with the help of the UN.