BP to quadruple capacity of Xi'an solar energy facility
By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-19 08:58
"There will be a balance between exports and domestic use (in China) from the
Xi'an Sunoasis production," he said.
BP Solar last November signed a
contract with China Xinjiang Sunoasis Co Ltd to set up BP Sunoasis in Xi'an,
which is 51 per cent controlled by Xinjiang Sunoasis and 49 per cent by BP.
The new venture has a registered capital of over US$10 million and
represents a strategic move by BP Solar to bet on China's booming new energy
market, BP said. It focuses on the manufacturing of both panels and panel
automation equipment for the use of solar power generation.
Following the
operational start-up in January, Twidell said the Xi'an plant would be able to
make profit before 2010. "It is not likely for a joint venture to gain profit in
the first year," he said.
BP has announced that it plans to spend up to
US$8 billion in the next 10 years on renewable and low-carbon power generation
technologies.
The plan would double the company's current investment in
alternative power and focus on wind, solar, hydrogen and combined-cycle
gas-turbine technologies, BP said. It is expected to generate revenue of around
US$6 billion per year within the next decade.
China's solar energy
equipment manufacturing market is heating up as both foreign and local firms
jostle for a share.
The country's flagship local company is Jiangsu-based
Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd. The company made its initial public offering
debut last December and will increase the company's production capacity by
almost tenfold in the next five years to reach 1,000 MW.
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