During the prime-time debut of the documentary Colorful Portugal on China Central Television’s UHD channel (CCTV4K) on September 6, Hengtong’s WindFloat Atlantic (WFA) Submarine Power Transmission EPC+M project was celebrated with a 3-minute coverage among introductions to Portugal’s natural landscape, social convention, and China-Portugal economic and cultural cooperation.
Against the grand backdrop of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Sino-Portugal Blue Partnership, Hengtong as the general contractor for the submarine power transmission, mobilized the state-of-the-art cable engineering technology, integrated global resources by joining hands with teams from various countries and made numerous technological breakthroughs.
As the world’s first semi-submersible offshore wind power generation project with a total of 25 MW of installed capacity in phase one, WFA, once put into use, will provide for the power demand of some 60,000 households in Europe every year.
It is expected that by 2050, renewables will generate all the electric power requirements for Portugal, taking the place of all traditional fuels. With her strong systematic integration capacity, Hengtong wishes to make her contribution in this green energy cause for the sustainable development of mankind.
Portugal is the first western European country to sign the BRI MOU with China. As the westmost European country and the pioneer of the Age of Discovery, Portugal serves as a critical hub at the junction of the land and maritime Silk Roads. Her support of the BRI is of significant symbolic meaning.
In the documentary, H.E. Mr. Cai Run, Chinese Ambassador to Portugal endorses China-Portugal economic and investment cooperation by saying that Chinese enterprises are cooperating with their Portuguese partners not only for commercial purpose, but also for learning from each other in a mutually reinforcing manner.
In this sense, Hengtong is a telling example. Save for the WFA project, Hengtong acquired Alcobre, a Portuguese wire and cable manufacturer in Ovar as early as 2016.
By extending the reach of the humankind beyond “where the earth ends and the ocean begins” (verse from Luís de Camões, Portuguese national poet) and seeking green energy from the blue ocean, Hengtong adds a tinge of her own color to the “colorful Portugal”.