Suntech announces 1.8GW of new Chinese solar projects

Suntech Power Holdings, one of the world's largest photovoltaic module makers, yesterday announced plans for four new on-grid photovoltaic solar projects in China with a compbined capacity of 1.8GW.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed company said it had signed solar plant construction deals with the governments of Shaanxi province and Shizuishan city in Ningxia Autonomous Region.

The Shaanxi facility will have an installed capacity of 300MW, while the other three developments will have a capacity 500MW each, delivering a total of 1.8GW of solar capacity from the new projects.

All four projects will need to be approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, which administers China's energy policy, and secure a sufficient amount of investment and project financing before they can proceed, said Suntech.

However, executives are likely to be optimistic that approval can be attained given the government recently announced a 15-fold increase in its solar energy targets for 2011 to two gigawatts and has signalled that solar power will play a key role in its efforts to curb carbon emissions.

The new projects closely follow the recent announcement from Suntech of new PV power projects in Qinghai province and in the Chinese city of Panzhihua, located in Sichuan province.

The company is investing $1bn (£611m) in the Panzhihua solar plant, but did not provide cost estimates for the other facilities.