KIEV, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- A major solar power plant jointly built in Ukraine by China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and Ukraine's largest private energy holding Donbas Fuel and Energy Company (DTEK) has started operation, local authorities said on Monday.

The plant near Nikopol city in central Dnipropetrovsk region became the largest solar station in Ukraine and one of the three biggest solar farms in Europe, Dnipropetrovsk regional administration said in a statement on its website.

The solar plant with a total capacity of 200 megawatts of power is capable of providing electricity to two medium-sized Ukrainian towns, the statement said.

The 400-hectare solar farm consists of 750,000 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels produced by Chinese companies Seraphim Solar System and Trina Solar.

Besides, the plant incorporates 80 inverter stations with 160 PV inverters manufactured by the China-based Shenzhen Kstar Science and Technology.

The estimated cost of the solar station is 230 million euro (about 261 million U.S. dollars). The project was funded by the DTEK's own funds and by a loan from the CMEC.

Once operating at full capacity, the solar farm is expected to reduce harmful CO2 emissions by about 300,000 tons annually and generate additional 74,100 U.S. dollars in taxes to the region's budget.