Suntech launches 10 MW utility-scale solar project in China

Wuxi, China-based Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE:STP) said today it has completed and connected a 10 megawatt utility-scale solar power project to the grid in China.

The ground mounted project, located in Shizuishan, in western China’s Ningxia Autonomous Region, is in its first phase of a 50 MW solar plant expected to be completed by 2011 with Suntech’s strategic partner China Energy Conservation Investment. Financial details were not disclosed.

The 10 MW system was approved by the region’s development and reform commission in June. Suntech said it designed, installed and managed the development of the solar system, powered by more than 37,000 of its solar panels.

Suntech—which manufactures crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules—is supplying the modules for this project, which it also owns a minority share in. Its modules have reached record conversion efficiencies in recent weeks (see Suntech surpasses its own module efficiency record).

The project is projected to displace about 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Suntech and China Energy Conservation Investment are engaged in a strategic agreement, announced earlier this year, to develop large scale, on-grid solar projects, urban building integrated photovoltaic projects, rural off-grid solar projects, and wind-solar hybrid projects.

China Energy Conservation Investment is planning to focus on project investment and development, while Suntech is expected to supply the solar products, system design, installation and technical support.

Last month, China Energy financed another large scale, on-grid solar project in China for Astronergy, which won the bidding process for a 2 MW rooftop PV project in the Hangzhou Energy and Environment Industrial Park, located in the Zhejiang Province (see Astronergy wins bid for Chinese province’s first large, on-grid PV project).