(Yicai Global) Sept. 13 -- China has begun construction work on its largest solar energy base costing CNY15.3 billion (USD2.21 billion) in a desert in the northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Covering an area of about 43,000 square kilometers and with a planned installed capacity of about 3 gigawatts, the project started being built in the Tengger Desert on Sept. 9, the Ningxia Daily reported on Sept. 11. The desert is China’s fourth largest.

The project’s first phase will cost about CNY5.1 billion and have a 1 GW capacity. After it begins operation, the project will produce about 5.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year and generate CNY1.5 billion (USD217 million) of revenue.

The new photovoltaic power plant is part of a bigger project costing CNY100 billion to supply electricity produced in Ningxia to central Hunan province across six provincial-level areas. The transmission lines will stretch for 1,467 kilometers.

Situated at a high altitude, Ningxia has long hours of sunshine, making it one of the provincial-level areas most suited to renewable energy projects. It has the potential to develop about 52 million KW of wind power and about 54 million KW of solar power in the short term.

Zhongwei, the city where the new solar farm will be located on the southeast edge of the Tengger Desert, has developed 111 new energy projects in recent years, with a total installed capacity of 8.27 million KW, or almost a third of Ningxia’s total.

Editor: Peter Thomas