Thin-film module maker Amelio Solar and a Jordanian investment group are partnering to build a 1 gigawatt solar power generation plant in Jordan, including a 200 megawatt solar module factory.

The generation plant is scheduled to reach total power capacity by 2017. The thin-film module factory will reach full capacity in three years, beginning with a 22 MW manufacturing line in 2009. The solar modules produced at the factory will be used primarily for the power generation plant, but excess modules could be used in other Amelio Solar projects or sold on the open market.

Amelio Solar said the venture will be its largest project, but it didn't release financial details. The Ewing, New Jersey, company builds thin-film manufacturing and power-generation facilities. The solar company uses amorphous silicon as the semiconductor material for its solar modules and is testing CIGS technology for future application.

Amelio Solar’s partner, the Al-Husseini Group, is a diversified real estate, industrial, agricultural, and trading company based in Jordan and with offices in Iraq, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.