According to The Associated Press, American solar cell giant First Solar has been given approval by the Chinese government to set up a solar power production base in Ordos, Inner Mongolia.

This is said to be the first time that an American company has entered the fast growing renewable energy field of China. Besides the production base, First Solar also plans to build a manufacturer factory in China.

Covering a total area of 64 square kilometers, First Solar's new project in China will be located in the desert area of Inner Mongolia and the construction of the whole project is expected to take ten years. With an estimated capacity of 2,000MW, the project is equal to the capacity of two coal power plants and can meet the needs of about three million households for lighting power.

First Solar says it is cheaper to set up a solar power station in China than to commission a station of the same size in the United States.