(Yicai) Dec. 19 -- China General Nuclear Power Group, a state-owned atomic and clean energy developer, has kicked off construction at Laos’ first large-scale photovoltaic power generation project, with an installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts.

Located in the Oudomxay province, the project will have an annual electricity output of 1.7 billion kilowatt-hours to meet the needs of 10 million households, CGN announced yesterday. It will lower standard coal consumption by 510,000 tons and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1.4 million tons every year.

CGN will co-develop the project with over 70 Chinese and Lao firms, creating at least 1,000 local jobs and driving local investments by over CNY150 million (USD20.6 million), it added.

Once completed, the project will also provide some of the generated electricity to Yunnan through a cross-border grid, helping the Chinese southwestern province to achieve electricity security and energy transformation, the Shenzhen-based company noted.

In September last year, CGN and the Lao government signed an agreement to jointly build a comprehensive clean energy complex in the Lao provinces of Oudomxay, Phongsali, and Louang Namtha, including wind, hydrogen, and solar power generation and storage.

The PV power generation project that began construction yesterday was the first phase of the clean energy complex.

CGN and the Lao government signed another deal in August for the second phase of the complex, which includes a new 580,000-kW PV project in Louang Namtha and additional 420,000 kW of installed PV capacity in Oudomxay.

CGN has over 100 million kW of installed clean energy capacity in operation or under construction in 30 Chinese provincial-level regions and 16 foreign countries, according to its official website.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione