"There will be a balance between exports and domestic use (in China) from the Xi'an Sunoasis production," he said.

BP Solar last November signed a contract with China Xinjiang Sunoasis Co Ltd to set up BP Sunoasis in Xi'an, which is 51 per cent controlled by Xinjiang Sunoasis and 49 per cent by BP.

The new venture has a registered capital of over US$10 million and represents a strategic move by BP Solar to bet on China's booming new energy market, BP said. It focuses on the manufacturing of both panels and panel automation equipment for the use of solar power generation.

Following the operational start-up in January, Twidell said the Xi'an plant would be able to make profit before 2010. "It is not likely for a joint venture to gain profit in the first year," he said.

BP has announced that it plans to spend up to US$8 billion in the next 10 years on renewable and low-carbon power generation technologies.

The plan would double the company's current investment in alternative power and focus on wind, solar, hydrogen and combined-cycle gas-turbine technologies, BP said. It is expected to generate revenue of around US$6 billion per year within the next decade.

China's solar energy equipment manufacturing market is heating up as both foreign and local firms jostle for a share.

The country's flagship local company is Jiangsu-based Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd. The company made its initial public offering debut last December and will increase the company's production capacity by almost tenfold in the next five years to reach 1,000 MW.

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