A Chinese business group has submitted a bid of 0.73 yuan (US$0.11) per watt for a 20MWp solar plant project in Hami of the Xinjiang region, according to Chinese media reports. Chinese officials have declined to comment.

The project is part of China's National Energy Administration's tender of open bids for establishing 13 photovoltaic (PV) power-generating plants. Each plant is expected to have an installation capacity of 20-30MWp for a total of 280MWp, in the northwestern region and Inner Mongolia.

The cost of solar power generation is currently above 1 yuan, meaning the mentioned bid is below cost. However, with the plant's small scale, the business group should be able to absorb the loss and use the facility as a demonstration, the reports indicated.

The Xinjiang project attracted 16 bidders, which included state-owned enterprises with strong financial backing such as China Energy Solar and GD Power Development Company, the reports said.