Baotou City set for 10 GW of renewables

Inner Mongolia’s Baotou City could be set for 10 GW of solar and wind power generation facilities under the terms of its next five-year plan, polysilicon maker Xinte Energy has revealed.

An update issued yesterday by Xinte to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange – about plans for a 200,000-ton capacity polysilicon fab in Baotou – stated: “Investment and construction of the 10 GW [of] new energy power stations will proceed in phases according to the 14th five-year plan for new energy development and construction and load absorption on peak shaving access of [the] power grid in Baotou City.”

The update added, the framework agreement signed between Xinte and two local government bodies would harness the former’s expertise in constructing large scale solar and wind projects.

The deal

Under the terms of the framework agreement, Xinte – a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned electrical equipment manufacturer TBEA – would invest an initial RMB8 billion (US$1.24 billion) in a 100,000-ton-annual-production-capacity fab in Baotou, with the municipal and the Tumd Right Banner governments providing policy support and help with identifying development sites and issuing permits. Banners are administrative divisions of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China, which includes Baotou.

Construction of that initial phase would start as soon as sites and permits are secured, Xinte said yesterday, with the production lines expected to be operational 18-24 months later. A further 100,000-ton-capacity polysilicon factory would be added, together with “industrial silicon [facilities] and [a] supporting project” depending on market and permitting status, said Xinte.

A separate transaction announced yesterday will see state-owned energy company Beijing Energy International Holding Co Ltd spend RMB60.2 million (US$9.36 million) on six solar projects in Inner Mongolia with a total generation capacity of 115 MW.

The sale price of the Inner Mongolia Minghua New Energy Co Ltd project company owned by an investment business and a coal wholesaler was set at RMB301 million but will be adjusted down after monies owed by the business to its parents are taken into account.

The sellers are Zhongming Capital Holdings Group Co Ltd and Inner Mongolia Weiheng Industry and Trade Co Ltd.