ReneSola wins Ningxia solar power plant rights

A development zone in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has awarded ReneSola, a domestic solar wafer manufacturer, the exclusive rights to develop a US$706 million solar power plant, Reuters reported. The Taiyangshan Development Zone, near Wuzhong, Ningxia, awarded ReneSola the rights to build a 150 megawatt (MW) plant, equal in capacity to large wind farms in Europe and the US. The project is expected to begin construction in 2010, pending a feasibility study and government approval. ReneSola recently signed a letter of intent with the government of Yancheng, Jiangsu province to build a 500 MW solar power project in the southern city. The company, which has expressed a desire to expand beyond solar cell wafer manufacturing, is said to be benefiting from China’s Golden Sun project, which subsidizes solar production.