ANKARA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The bid for a 1,000-megawatt photovoltaic solar power plant, poised to be the largest of its kind in the world, in central Turkish province of Konya will be held in December, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak announced Thursday.

Companies from the United States, China and European countries will compete in the bid, which will attract investment of 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, Turkish Daily Sabah reported.

The solar power plant, to be constructed on a nearly 2,000-hectare area, will produce 1.7 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, enough for 600,000 houses.

The minister stated that successful bidding companies will have to establish a solar power plant that is capable of producing at least 500,000 megawatts of energy a year.

He added the power plant will provide jobs for at least 1,000 technicians, and will also be able to export energy in the upcoming years.

Turkey is set to hold another bid for a similar project in wind energy in the first quarter of 2017.