China Guodian Corp, the parent of GD Power Development, said it has started the construction of a polysilicon facility to serve the solar power industry in northwestern China's Ningxia region.

The plant, located in Shizuishan, will require a total investment of 5 bln yuan, the company said.

The first phase of the project will have an annual capacity of 25 mln tons when it comes on-stream in 2010.

Capacity will be raised in stages to 50 mln tons.

Polysilicon is a major raw material for the production of solar cells. – XFN-Asia