Chinese hybrid-car maker BYD plans to invest 22.5 billion yuan ($3.3b) in building China’s biggest solar power battery plant.

 

The plant in Shaanxi in north-western China will be able to build 5,000 MW in battery power a year, scmp.com said, quoting the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission website. The company declined to comment on the reports.

 

China last year manufactured 6,000 MW in solar-power batteries last year, accounting for 40% of global output.

 

The Chinese government has said it will subsidize roughly half the installation cost of solar panels. It plans to spend 374 billion yuan on efficient technologies for cutting emissions over the next five years.

 

BYD, a fast-growing company in Shenzhen, southern China, was founded as a mobile phone battery supplier in 1995. It bought a bankrupt state-run auto company in 2003 and became the first Chinese carmaker to launch a petrol-battery hybrid, the F3DM, in December 2008.

 

US investor Warren Buffet paid $230 million for a 10% stake in the firm in 2008.

 

The company is also exploring the technology for making petrol-solar power hybrid cars, the SCMP said.