Hanwha to help forestation project in China

South Korea's Hanwha Group said Wednesday it has agreed with a Chinese province to set up a solar energy facility to help reforest the country's denuded areas and prevent further desertification in northwestern China. Under the memorandum of understanding with the provincial government of Ningxia, the group's two renewable energy arms, Hanwha Solar One and Hanwha Solar Energy, will provide solar modules and build a power plant for free, the group said. Hanwha Group said that the plant with an hourly capacity of 80 kilowatt will provide power to a tree nursery for reforestation of an 855-hectare area. Hanwha Group said that this is the first such case of using solar energy for a forestation project in a cleaner and more sustainable way. The project is also sponsored by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. "It's significant that we will participate in a project to tackle desertification through solar energy," said Keum Choon-soo, chief executive of Hanwha Group China. "We will become one of the top environment-friendly companies in China by strengthening our low-carbon green-growth business." The South Korean government and companies have been helping China plant trees in deserts in northern China in order to reduce desertification in the region. The increasing desertification of the denuded regions has resulted in serious pollution, including yellow dust that hits the Korean Peninsula every spring and poses health problems and other industrial damage.