Chinese renewable energy project developer, Focusic New Energy Holding, has secured a loan of CNY200 million (US$32.8 million), from the China development bank to finance a 20MW concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) plant in Xinjiang, China.
The project will be carried out in partnership with CPV specialist, Soitec, which willsupply dual axis systems for the first 3MW, and high efficiency modules for the entire project, and is contracted to construct 8.5MW out of the 20MW, so far.
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The project will be located in Hami, Xinjiang province in China. A pilot plan of a preliminary 3MW was announced in 2011 by Focusic and is scheduled to be grid connected by the end of this year, with a second phase sxheduled to be completed by 2014.
The project is said to be the first utility-scale CPV project to receive a loan from the China Development Bank, and the first large CPV plant in China to secure financing.
“We are very excited to receive this very important bank loan to install our first 20 MWp CPV power plant,” said Ma Wenxing, managing director at Focusic. Wenxing also said the demo plant with Soitec technology proved “perfectly suited” for the north-western part of China. Focusic is now looking forward “to getting connected to the power grid and beginning to generate electricity”, Wenxing said.
Gaetan Borgers, executive vice president of Soitec's solar energy division, said Soitec is developing a pipeline of projects in China as CPV technology “can play a strong part in China's renewable-energy plans”.
Focusic also said CPV is a good fit for north-west China due to its low installation and maintenance costs and high power efficiency , helping to meet the growing demand for energy China. The CPV project will also operate without cooling water and can withstand desert temperatures with minimal environmental impact.
