US company wants to begin building solar plant this year
Source: Agencies |
January 6, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A US company yesterday said it wants to start construction this year in China on one of the world's biggest solar power plants after forming a partnership with a Chinese utility company.
First Solar Inc announced plans in 2009 for the facility in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The company said it hoped to break ground in mid-2010 but a pre-feasibility study was not approved until September and regulators delayed approval of higher payment rates for solar-generated power.
China Guangdong Nuclear Solar Energy Development Co will become the majority partner in the facility's first phase in Ordos City, First Solar said.
Executives said ownership stakes, financing and other details were still being negotiated.
Plans call for 2 gigawatts of generating capacity - the equivalent of two coal-fired plants - covering 64 square kilometers to be built in stages through 2020. The first stage is 30 megawatts.
First Solar's President Bruce Sohn said the Chinese partner would supply engineering skills and influence in China's energy market. It is a subsidiary of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co, which operates two nuclear power plants in Guangdong Province and is building four more.
"We see China Guangdong Nuclear as being a very strong, viable and important partner," Sohn said.
Sohn said they want to start construction by the end of 2011.
Sohn said the thin-film power panels for the Inner Mongolia project were likely to be produced by a First Solar factor in Malaysia.
First Solar and Guangdong Nuclear are working out costs and other details and preparing a business plan to submit to the government to request favorable power prices to support the project, said T.K. Kallenbach, First Solar's executive vice president.
The two companies will share expertise in building the plant, but First Solar is not required to turn over solar panel technology, Kallenbach said.
First Solar, based in Tempe, Arizona, said in 2009 that it planned to turn the Inner Mongolia plant over to a Chinese operator.
China is promoting solar and other renewable energy.
First Solar Inc announced plans in 2009 for the facility in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The company said it hoped to break ground in mid-2010 but a pre-feasibility study was not approved until September and regulators delayed approval of higher payment rates for solar-generated power.
China Guangdong Nuclear Solar Energy Development Co will become the majority partner in the facility's first phase in Ordos City, First Solar said.
Executives said ownership stakes, financing and other details were still being negotiated.
Plans call for 2 gigawatts of generating capacity - the equivalent of two coal-fired plants - covering 64 square kilometers to be built in stages through 2020. The first stage is 30 megawatts.
First Solar's President Bruce Sohn said the Chinese partner would supply engineering skills and influence in China's energy market. It is a subsidiary of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co, which operates two nuclear power plants in Guangdong Province and is building four more.
"We see China Guangdong Nuclear as being a very strong, viable and important partner," Sohn said.
Sohn said they want to start construction by the end of 2011.
Sohn said the thin-film power panels for the Inner Mongolia project were likely to be produced by a First Solar factor in Malaysia.
First Solar and Guangdong Nuclear are working out costs and other details and preparing a business plan to submit to the government to request favorable power prices to support the project, said T.K. Kallenbach, First Solar's executive vice president.
The two companies will share expertise in building the plant, but First Solar is not required to turn over solar panel technology, Kallenbach said.
First Solar, based in Tempe, Arizona, said in 2009 that it planned to turn the Inner Mongolia plant over to a Chinese operator.
China is promoting solar and other renewable energy.
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