Chinese PV Industry Brief: Huawei shipped 52 GW of PV inverters in 2021

Huawei shipped 52 GW of PV inverters in 2021. This was revealed by a reply from Huawei's smart PV business sector to inquiry from a China local media, which also revealed that the Chinese conglomerate and inverter maker shipped 2 GW of storage systems last year. In 2020, total PV inverter shipments totaled 41.7 GW.

Longi reported this week its revenue grew by 48% to CNY 80.9 billion (US$12.4 billion) in 2021. Its profit, however, declined by 6.2% to CNY 9.1 billion. The PV wafer and module manufacturer produced 70 GW of wafers last year, of which 33.9 GW were for internal use and 36.1 GW for external clients. Total module shipments reached 38.52 GW, lower than the 40 GW projects at the beginning of 2021. At the end of last year, the company reached production capacities for monocrystalline wafers, solar cells, and PV modules of 105 GW, 37 GW and 60 GW, respectively. The company estimates its 2022 module shipments will be between 90 and 100 GW and yearly revenues will reach over CNY 100 million.

Heterojunction (HJT) photovoltaics manufacturer Golden Solar has signed a one-year lease agreement, to start on July 1, with HJT cell maker JP-Solar Power (Fujian) Co Ltd for a 250 MW solar cell production line. With cast-mono wafer making facilities already in place, Golden Solar said in its annual report for 2021, published last week, cell and module production would form the next part of its transformation from a footwear manufacturer to a PV business.

Wafer maker Zhonghuan Semiconductor will change its name from Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co., Ltd to TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy Technology Co., Ltd. The English abbreviation also changed from TJSEMI to TZE.

Solar developer Shunfeng has again postponed the release of details of a shareholder vote to consider the CNY 890 million ($135 million) sale of four PV projects with a total generation capacity of 132 MW. Details of the meeting were initially due on Jan. 28, but their release was last week postponed for a fourth time, until the end of May. Shunfeng revealed in its annual report for 2021, that the assets of one of the solar project businesses in question, Xinjiang Tianli, have been frozen by order of the Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court of Jiangsu province, complicating the projected sale process. In an additional wrinkle for Shunfeng, it also announced last week it had missed the four-month deadline for publishing its annual report, due to Covid-related restrictions in China. The numbers have now been promised on or before May 13.

State-owned solar panel glassmaker Luoyang Glass’ acquisition of a 60% stake in rival Qinhuangdao North Glass Co Ltd last year resulted in a non-recurring loss of CNY 108 million for its first-quarter earnings, which reduced net profit for shareholders by 97% from the CNY 136 million recorded in January to March 2021, to CNY 4.1 million in the first quarter this year. That result came despite this year’s first-quarter revenue rising from CNY 853 million in the first three months of 2021, to CNY 1 billion. Luoyang last week reported raw material and fuel costs rose 76% year on year for the latest first quarter reporting period, to CNY 893 million but finance costs fell 45%, from CNY 32.9 million to CNY 18 million and government grant income rose, from CNY 5.6 million in January- March 2021, to CNY 68.3 million.

The Xiangdao New Energy subsidiary of GCL New Energy‘s project development business wants to raise CNY 510 million by entering a 12-year sale-and-leaseback agreement with a state-owned leasing company to help pay down two loans. Xiangdao New Energy must settle CNY 188 million owed to Zhujiang Financial Leasing Co Ltd in November and owes the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd CNY 243 million by June 2024. The GCL subsidiary, which owns solar parks with a generation capacity of 161 MW and a book value of CNY 553 million, plans to transfer them to state-owned CR Leasing in return for CNY 510 million and will then lease them back – after paying a CNY 5.1 million handling fee – for 48 quarterly payments which, at the current interest rate of 5.9%, would cost CNY 15 million each. The proposal must be approved by GCL New Energy controlling shareholders Elite Time Global, which holds 49% of the stock, and Dongsheng Photovoltaic, which has 9%.

Manufacturer Solargiga wants to issue stock worth around 16.55% of ingot and wafer making subsidiary Qujing Yangguang to raise enough cash for the business unit to acquire a second Solargiga subsidiary from a third of the company’s business units. The parent last week said Qujing Yangguang would use CNY 255 million of the projected CNY 460 million proceeds of the share placing to complete the acquisition of ingot and wafer business Jinzhou Youhua from its Solargiga Energy unit. If shareholders approve the transaction, CNY 125 million of the cash will be used to purchase assets to expand Qujing Yangguang’s ingot and wafer production capacity, while the CNY 80 million balance will bolster the unit’s working capital. The move will dilute Solargiga’s holding in Qujing Yangguang from 53.7% to 44.81% but the company will remain the controlling shareholder.

State-owned utility China Energy Engineering has released first-quarter figures indicating the contract value of its photovoltaic project business had increased more than fourfold on the values recorded in January to March 2021. The company last week also highlighted new energy storage projects, including a 400 MW/800 MWh site in Youyou county, Shouzhou city, Shanxi province; a 200 MW/400 MWh facility at Yungang Tuobo Hengtai; and a 100 MW/200 MWh project in Ningchu Litong district.

Rooftop solar installer and battery manufacturer Comtec Solar announced an annual loss for shareholders of CNY 45 million from last year, in unaudited annual figures released at the end of March. That marked an improvement on the CNY 65.7 million shed in 2020 as the former solar manufacturer wound down its polysilicon and wafer production facilities, although revenue fell to CNY 54.8 million last year, from CNY 55 million a year earlier. Comtec ran down an inventory worth CNY 17.2 million in 2020 to CNY 3.16 million in 2021 and saw the value of its current assets fall from CNY 144 million to CNY 80.6 million over the same period. The latest figures stated the business had CNY 296 million more current liabilities than current assets in 2021, which marked a worsening in the working capital deficit of CNY 291 million which had been recorded in 2020.