UK-based solar installer MAP Environmental has inked a £400 million deal with Chinese solar module manufacturer ZN Shine Solar.
The deal will see ZN Shine Solar invest in a number of solar plants across the UK including ground-mounted solar farms. The agreement was one of many trade and investment deals agreed between the UK and China worth £14 billion in what is being billed as a ‘the start of a new era between Britain and China’.
Commenting on the announced deal, Paul Wheeler, CEO of MAP Environmental said: “With huge support from our Chinese partner we have created a truly amazing joint venture that will help us to help the UK achieve its carbon commitments.
“This new fund is set to provide solar to social housing, commercial rooftop and ground-mounted projects across the UK and we are proud as a business that we are able to offer new opportunities to the British people through employment and clean energy. We have other exciting announcements that are due to come out later this year with a separate fund that we will be launching based around LED technology and waste to energy.”
Speaking at the press conference for the UK-China summit, Prime Minister David Cameron explained that a key part of the UK’s long-term economic plan “is linking this country up to the fastest growing economies on the planet and China is central to that”.
The agreement is expected to create up to 550 new jobs in the UK, spanning design, administration, operations, construction and maintenance.