OCI, a South Korea-based chemical company, has finished constructing its first solar plant in Jiaxing, China, accelerating its push into the country’s fast-growing photovoltaic power generation business.

The firm held a ceremony Monday to mark the completion of the new 2.5 megawatts PV solar power plant, having invested a total of $3.35 million, according to OCI. 

“OCI hopes that this newly-constructed plant will act as a stepping-stone for the company’s successful entry into China’s burgeoning solar power market,” said OCI CEO Lee Woo-hyun.

Housed on the rooftops of the Super Lighting and CMAG company buildings located in the industrial hub of Jiaxing, the new solar plant will supply electricity firsthand to the two companies and the rest to electricity firms over the next 25 years.

Such a distributed PV generation system is reportedly set to maximize the plant’s profitability by diversifying sales routes. According to China’s National Energy Administration, solar energy production is set to reach 17.8 gigawatts this year, of which 6 gigawatts will be generated through distributive power systems.

The new plant also marks the first step in OCI’s stated plans to build solar facilities able to generate a total of 20 megawatts of energy in China by 2016. The construction of a new 400 megawatts solar plant in Texas is currently underway in the United States as well.

Meanwhile, OCI has established a new holdings company in Jiaxing in a bid to more effectively oversee and manage the firm’s solar plant business in China.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)