Earlier this year, Enfinity, which has been in business for only four years, announced it would build China’s first solar energy park, generating 10 mW, in Dunhuang province – a contract worth €27 million. Under the contract, the company will set up a joint venture with the state-owned China Guandong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC).

Now CGNPC has come back to Enfinity for the development of two more projects, each of which is 100 times larger than the Dunhuang installation. The projects will run for 10 years and, while overall costs cannot accurately be estimated at this stage, Enfinity did confirm that the Chinese were talking about “a figure with nine zeroes”. The two parks will have a peak capacity each of 2,000 mW – 200 times larger than Dunhuang.

Last week, contracts were exchanged between the company and CGNPC at the Hertoginnedal palace in eastern Brussels (where some of the nation’s most important political events take place) in the presence of prime minister Herman Van Rompuy and Chinese vice president Xi Jinping.

Enfinity achieved sales last year of €83 million, far short of its declared ambition to reach €1 billion within five years. The ambitious target now looks much closer to being realised. The company employs 130, including newly-installed CEO Hans De Backer, formerly of Fortis. His engagement was meant to allow cofounders Gino Van Neer and Patrick Decuyper to shift their focus from management to international development.

• Meanwhile, the installation of domestic solar panels has tripled in Flanders over the past year, but the surge will not be enough to enable the region to reach its target of 6% green energy, according to the electricity and gas market regulator VREG. The growth in panels, from about 12,000 in 2008 to more than 35,000 in 2009, is largely a result of public subsidies: homeowners can apply for a municipal subsidy of around €500, as well as getting tax relief on a maximum investment annually of €3,600. Owners are are given certificates for every 1,000 kW hours they generate, which can be exchanged with power generators like Electrabel for €450 each. Last week, innovation minister Ingrid Lieten opened Flanders’ largest solar power park in Lommel, Limburg province. The park has a peak capacity of 1,700 kW, and most of the power generated will be consumed by Sibelco, a minerals company that owns the land on which the park is installed.

• Green Power Takes Root in the Chinese Desert (nytimes.com)
• Solar plant will power 3 million homes (in China) (ubergizmo.com)