FRANKFURT | Thu Sep 8, 2011 5:12am EDT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Munich Re and China's Ping An Insurance will jointly develop insurance products and services for Chinese renewable energy companies in their first co-operation, the two companies said on Thursday.

"These solutions reduce the risks for investors, thus making large projects possible," the companies said in a statement.

A Munich Re spokesman declined to comment on whether wider co-operation between the two companies was envisaged.

"The focus here is our expertise in renewable energy," the spokesman said, adding Munich Re had developed its own insurance policies guaranteeing product performance for solar panels, and wind and geothermal facilities.

The spokesman also declined to comment on the potential premium volume and timetable for the rollout, but said some projects and clients in China had been identified.

China is a leading manufacturer of renewable energy technologies, accounting for about half of world production of solar panels last year. It invested nearly $50 billion in green energy projects and research in 2010.

China aims to provide to provide 500 gigawatts through renewable energy by 2020, largely from wind and solar power.

Munich Re is the world's biggest reinsurer, with premiums of about 46 billion euros ($64 billion) last year, while Ping An's property and casualty insurance operations make it China's No. 2 player in non-life insurance.

($1 = 0.712 Euros)

(Editing by David Hulmes)