China's first grid-connected solar power station built in a desert entered operation on Friday in Wuwei City,northwest China's Gansu Province.

Built with a total installed capacity of 1 megawatt, the Datang Wuwei Solar Power Station in Tengger Desert was developed by the China Datang Corporation, China's second largest power producer.

Only half of the planned installed capacity was in production on Friday, which will have an annual output of 870,000 kwh.

The project is scheduled for full completion by the end of next year, said Jiang Pingsuo, chief engineer of Datang's subsidiary in Gansu Province.

The desert enjoys 2,210 hours of sunshine a year usable for power generation, which means a 1-megawatt solar panel can generate 1.74 million kwh of electricity a year, said Jiang.

He said that the operation of the solar station is a breakthrough in the country's exploitation of the solar energy in desert region.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2008)