Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光能源) yesterday said it has secured a deal to build and operate the nation’s biggest super-high-voltage ground-mount solar power plant in Changhua County.
The deal came after the solar cell maker said in August that it had invested in a US solar power plant, Clean Focus Yield Ltd, which is to build a rooftop solar power system with annual capacity of 225 megawatts (MW).
The US plant is forecast to earn US$33 million in revenue a year after it starts operation.
The ground-mount solar farm in Changhua will have an annual capacity of 40MW, Neo Solar said in a statement.
Upon completion, it is expected to generate 52 million units of power, equal to the annual electricity consumption of 14,300 households, the company’s statement said.
The first phase of construction is due to be completed in the second quarter of next year, with 15MW of solar panel output to be fed to the Taiwan Power Co’s (台電) grid, the statement said.
The Changhua operation will be the nation’s first large-scale super-high-voltage ground-mount solar power plant built on idle and barren farmland.
Neo Solar said it is in discussions with the government about the second phase of construction.
Neo Solar’s subsidiary General Energy Solutions Inc (永旺能源) and Yong Yao Energy Co Ltd (永堯能源) are to be in charge of the construction of the farm and its operation respectively.
Yong Yao operates as a so-called “Special Purpose Vehicle” for implementation and operation of the solar power project.
Neo Solar said the Chuanghua plan has already been bankrolled by Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) and DBS Bank Taiwan (星展銀行), but did not say how much in loans it has obtained.
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