Zhejiang Chint Launches 2024 Sustainability Report Highlighting 169 Billion kWh of Green Electricity Generation Annually

On April 30, Zhengtai New Energy released its 2024 Sustainability Report, detailing its practices and achievements in sustainable development management, green product innovation, green low-carbon transformation, and the co-construction of a green supply chain. The report indicates that in 2024, Zhengtai New Energy is expected to ship over 130 GW of photovoltaic modules, generating approximately 169 billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually, which is equivalent to a reduction of 160 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. With technology innovation as its driving force and zero-carbon factories as benchmarks, the company has been recognized as a “Top Performer” in component supply by PVEL for nine consecutive years, highlighting its strength in sustainable development within the global photovoltaic industry.

Zhengtai New Energy’s Chairman and President, Lu Chuan, stated that in 2024, the global carbon neutrality process will accelerate, with the photovoltaic industry as a core force for energy transformation, reshaping the global energy landscape through technological innovation and green manufacturing. The company is committed to driving technological innovation while continuously deepening the research and application of n-type TOPCon technology, establishing a green value chain from raw materials to recycling.

By creating benchmarks for zero-carbon factories, enhancing product carbon footprint management, and promoting the establishment of industry circular economy standards, Zhengtai New Energy not only achieves high-quality development but also contributes practical solutions for global climate change.

Innovation-Driven: Building a Benchmark for Green Products
In the product design phase, Zhengtai New Energy centers on user needs, utilizing green empowerment to break traditional component boundaries and continuously enrich its portfolio of healthy ecological green products. The ASTRO N7s series modules incorporate self-developed ZBB-TOPCon technology and a design that eliminates busbars, thus avoiding harmful gas emissions from soldering and reducing silver paste consumption by 20%, significantly lowering energy consumption and carbon emissions during production. In the reporting period, the company conducted a full lifecycle assessment on all 38 products on sale, optimizing design to save a total of 6,789.19 tons of raw materials, a striking 2.8 times increase year-over-year.

Zhengtai New Energy promotes sustainable packaging across the entire supply chain from source to end-use. By utilizing recyclable materials, lightweight designs, and implementing packaging material recycling and resource disposal, the company effectively reduces resource consumption and environmental impact during the packaging process. In terms of packaging materials, the company optimized the transport packaging for chemicals, unifying the chemical containers at all bases to tank trucks and replacing easily damaged wooden pallets with durable metal pallets. They collaborated with four film suppliers on a packaging material recycling project, achieving a 50% rate of recyclable packaging materials. Furthermore, the company is working on reducing the weight and usage of packaging materials while ensuring performance standards are met, successfully decreasing the total weight of five-layer paper packaging from 920 grams to 840 grams, validating the feasibility of reducing packaging material consumption for future promotion.

As global climate change and environmental challenges intensify, green logistics has become an essential choice for promoting sustainable economic and social development. Zhengtai New Energy integrates low-carbon development concepts into storage design, management, and operations, employing intelligent equipment and energy-saving devices to meticulously manage energy consumption and layout green energy solutions. The company has made notable innovations in green logistics: all forklifts used in internal turnover processes have been replaced with 100% electric vehicles. In the field of module recycling, the company actively participates in industry standard formulation and serves as the vice-chairman unit of the photovoltaic committee of the China Green Supply Chain Alliance, establishing a strategic partnership with PV CYCLE. Currently, Zhengtai has acquired 17 WEEE compliance certificates across 10 European countries, creating a complete closed-loop value chain for component recycling and reuse.

Collaborative Development: Building a Green Value Chain
In terms of industrial chain layout, Zhengtai New Energy is a pioneer, owning the world’s first “intelligent manufacturing + internet” transparent factory and has established multiple production bases globally. The company continuously enhances resource utilization efficiency and strictly controls emissions to lay a solid foundation for green operations, consistently leading the industry. To reduce environmental impact, Zhengtai New Energy has implemented diversified measures to decrease consumption of water, energy, and other resources while improving resource utilization efficiency. Throughout the year, the company executed 184 energy-saving projects, saving 122 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, equivalent to a reduction of 15,074.71 tons of standard coal, saving 118 million yuan in energy costs. Additionally, the company places high importance on water resource management and emissions management. In 2024, all factories initiated 17 water-saving projects, resulting in a total water savings of 2,103,900 tons and a savings cost of 8.4347 million yuan, with a water resource recycling rate of 91.56% and a 37.67% decrease in comprehensive water consumption intensity compared to the baseline year of 2022.

In 2024, another factory in Jiuquan achieved TÜV Rheinland zero-carbon factory certification, becoming a model for green manufacturing in the industry. The company also adopts a dual-drive strategy of “intelligent manufacturing + green energy,” integrating AI, IoT, and other technologies with manufacturing scenarios to build an intelligent operation and maintenance system, significantly enhancing energy utilization efficiency. In terms of environmental certifications, the company has made significant progress, obtaining ISO 14067 carbon footprint certification, Italian EPD certification, and French carbon footprint certification, among others. Notably, the renewable utilization rate of the company’s module products reaches 92%, and a comprehensive waste module recycling system has been established in cooperation with PV CYCLE, where aluminum frames and glass recycling rates reach 100%.

Moreover, Zhengtai New Energy continues to enhance its responsible supplier system by embedding requirements for environmental protection, health and safety, labor rights, and integrity into the supplier lifecycle management process, promoting sustainable development among partners. In supplier management, the company mandates that 100% of core suppliers obtain ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications, with 32 suppliers achieving national-level green factory qualifications. The proportion of core suppliers certified with ISO 14001 has increased by 22.25% compared to last year, ensuring full compliance with environmental standards throughout the production process from raw materials to finished products.

Human-Centric: Building a Platform for Social Value Coexistence
Zhengtai New Energy aims to be the most competitive photovoltaic module supplier globally, believing that a company’s success is not only measured by economic benefits but also by its contributions and returns to society. The company adheres to a “people-oriented” employment philosophy, creating equal and suitable work environments for diverse employees. By the end of 2024, women represented 27.56% of the workforce, with female directors making up 22.22%. The company has employed 193 individuals with disabilities, and one in every ten employees comes from minority or disadvantaged groups. Zhengtai New Energy continuously refines its talent training and development mechanisms, providing targeted and diverse training to support employee growth. As of now, 196 employees have been supported in completing further education to enhance their qualifications, and the company has received multiple employer brand awards, including the “2024 DEI Employer Award,” recognized by several professional human resources organizations.

At the same time, Zhengtai New Energy actively assumes social responsibility, sincerely giving back to the community. To promote equitable photovoltaic education and share the value of light with the world, the company has initiated the “Green Low Carbon, Hand in Hand with Children” public welfare activity and launched the “Solar The Future” public welfare program, supporting projects related to biodiversity, education, and women’s empowerment. Long-term commitment is an inevitable path for enterprises towards sustainable development, and Zhengtai New Energy will continue to enhance its lifecycle green management system from research and design to intelligent manufacturing and recycling, providing customers with more efficient and environmentally friendly energy solutions, setting a sustainable development example for the industry, and creating greater environmental value for society.