Two Chinese companies have started construction on a solar power plant in Ihtiman, a city located 50 km south of Sofia, local officials said Thursday.

Rumen Christov, manager of the Bulgarian company SunSERVICE, said that construction of the 2-MW solar power plant is scheduled to be finished in August.

"We are very satisfied because the partnership with the Chinese companies is going very well and the town government has invested US$7 million in the clean energy project," Christov told Xinhua.

The two Chinese companies -- Polar Photovoltaics and Wiscom -- are able to install between 1,300 and 1,500 solar panels a day.

Jim Su, chief marketing officer of Polar Photovoltaics, said the plant, with a designed life span of 25 years, will generate 2,500 MWh of electricity a year, more than enough to meet the needs of Ihtiman, which has about 15,000 residents.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2010)