By Mai Dou (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-03 08:37
Solar Millennium AG, a Germany-based solar energy technology company,
is working with its Chinese counterpart to build a
multi-billion-dollar solar power plant in North China.
The firm, with the Inner Mongolia Ruyi Industry Co Ltd, is conducting
a feasibility study for the project in Ordos of the northern Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Preparatory work will be completed for construction to begin by the
end of the year, said Christian Beltle, chairman of Solar Millennium.
When completed, the plant will be China's first large-scale commercial
plant converting sunlight into electricity, industry experts said.
The project, using solar-thermal technology provided by Solar
Millennium AG, would have a capacity of 1,000 MW (megawatts) by 2020.
Total investment would be about 20 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion),
according to the company.
An initial phase with a capacity of 50 MW would be built in "a short
period" at a cost of around 1.3 billion yuan (US$162.5 million), said
Wang Genshu, chairman of the Inner Mongolia Ruyi Industry Co Ltd.
Wang said they would invite strategic investors to come forward, both
domestic and foreign, when the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) gives the go-ahead for the project, possibly next
year.
"About 20 to 30 per cent of the total spending will be financed by
investors, with the remaining coming from bank loans," Wang said.
He said a few companies, including foreign ones, have shown strong
interest in the solar project.
Officials from the country's top five power companies, including
Huaneng and Datang, were not available for comment.
The German energy firm signed a framework agreement with its Chinese
partner last month.
The move marks Solar Millennium's first entry into the growing
renewable market in China. It has clinched deals to build similar
plants in other places such as Spain and the United States.
"This is our pilot project in China; I consider this to be a
forward-looking decision based on sharply-increasing energy demand in
the country," said Beltle. "China is expected to become our largest
market in three to four years."
Analysts participating in the feasibility study said they had
investigated three provinces in China, but finally selected Ordos in
Inner Mongolia because of its water resources and abundant sunlight.
Solar-thermal technology, different from the more-commonly-used
photovoltaic cells that directly turn light into electricity, needs
water to generate steam for power production, and is cheaper in terms
of construction costs, experts said.
Ma Shenghong, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the
Ordos solar plant would sell its electricity for 1.5-1.6 yuan (18.8-20
US cents) per kilowatt-hour to the grid companies.
China, the world's second-biggest energy consumer after the United
States, is pushing the use of renewable energy sources such as wind
and solar to generate electricity. At the beginning of the year the
government passed the country's first law on renewable energies.
Beijing aims to increase renewable consumption in the energy mix from
the current 7 per cent to 15 per cent by 2020.
China's major power companies have been ordered to ensure 5 per cent
of their electricity generators are fuelled by renewable energy
sources by 2010, Zhang Guobao, vice-minister of the NDRC, the nation's
top economic planning body, has said.
Updated: 2006-06-03 08:37
Solar Millennium AG, a Germany-based solar energy technology company,
is working with its Chinese counterpart to build a
multi-billion-dollar solar power plant in North China.
The firm, with the Inner Mongolia Ruyi Industry Co Ltd, is conducting
a feasibility study for the project in Ordos of the northern Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Preparatory work will be completed for construction to begin by the
end of the year, said Christian Beltle, chairman of Solar Millennium.
When completed, the plant will be China's first large-scale commercial
plant converting sunlight into electricity, industry experts said.
The project, using solar-thermal technology provided by Solar
Millennium AG, would have a capacity of 1,000 MW (megawatts) by 2020.
Total investment would be about 20 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion),
according to the company.
An initial phase with a capacity of 50 MW would be built in "a short
period" at a cost of around 1.3 billion yuan (US$162.5 million), said
Wang Genshu, chairman of the Inner Mongolia Ruyi Industry Co Ltd.
Wang said they would invite strategic investors to come forward, both
domestic and foreign, when the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) gives the go-ahead for the project, possibly next
year.
"About 20 to 30 per cent of the total spending will be financed by
investors, with the remaining coming from bank loans," Wang said.
He said a few companies, including foreign ones, have shown strong
interest in the solar project.
Officials from the country's top five power companies, including
Huaneng and Datang, were not available for comment.
The German energy firm signed a framework agreement with its Chinese
partner last month.
The move marks Solar Millennium's first entry into the growing
renewable market in China. It has clinched deals to build similar
plants in other places such as Spain and the United States.
"This is our pilot project in China; I consider this to be a
forward-looking decision based on sharply-increasing energy demand in
the country," said Beltle. "China is expected to become our largest
market in three to four years."
Analysts participating in the feasibility study said they had
investigated three provinces in China, but finally selected Ordos in
Inner Mongolia because of its water resources and abundant sunlight.
Solar-thermal technology, different from the more-commonly-used
photovoltaic cells that directly turn light into electricity, needs
water to generate steam for power production, and is cheaper in terms
of construction costs, experts said.
Ma Shenghong, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the
Ordos solar plant would sell its electricity for 1.5-1.6 yuan (18.8-20
US cents) per kilowatt-hour to the grid companies.
China, the world's second-biggest energy consumer after the United
States, is pushing the use of renewable energy sources such as wind
and solar to generate electricity. At the beginning of the year the
government passed the country's first law on renewable energies.
Beijing aims to increase renewable consumption in the energy mix from
the current 7 per cent to 15 per cent by 2020.
China's major power companies have been ordered to ensure 5 per cent
of their electricity generators are fuelled by renewable energy
sources by 2010, Zhang Guobao, vice-minister of the NDRC, the nation's
top economic planning body, has said.
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