Chinese PV Industry Brief: Eging to set up 10 GW of TOPCon solar panel production

Eging PV said this week that it has signed a deal with the authorities in Chuzhou, Anhui province, to build a 10 GW TOPCon solar module factory. The new plant will include 10 GW of wafer capacity and will require an investment of around CNY 5 billion ($705 million). Eging said that 67% of the investment will be for factory buildings and equipment, while the other 33% will support its working capital needs. It now has 5 GW of cell capacity and 10 GW of module capacity.

Tongwei has signed a deal with the authorities in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, to invest around CNY 4 billion in a 25 GW solar cell factory. By end of June 2022, the company had more than 230,000 metric tons (MT) of polysilicon capacity and 54 GW per year of annual solar cell production capacity. Tongwei plans to have 800,000 MT of polysilicon capacity by the end of 2024 and 102 GW of solar cell capacity by the end of 2023.

Jolywood said the first 4 GW phase of its TOPCon solar cell factory in Shanxi province has been completed. The manufacturing facility will eventually have a total capacity of 8 GW. The panel producer currently has total 4 GW of TOPCon cell capacity and 3.5 GW of PV module capacity.

Beijing Energy International reported a net profit for shareholders of CNY 181 million in the first half, down from CNY 371 million in January-June 2021. Revenue rose to CNY 1.99 billion, from CNY 1.31 billion a year earlier. It said its 4.58 GW portfolio, comprising 97 solar parks and seven wind farms, generated 3.32 TWh of clean power in the first half of 2022, up from 1.74 TWh in the same period last year.

China Power International Development has raised CNY 1.47 billion by diluting its ownership of four solar project companies. The state-owned utility retained a 36% stake in each of the businesses, which have passed to a clean power investment special purpose vehicle (SPV) controlled by CP Guorui. The SPV was partly capitalized with CNY 1 billion by China Power in April.

Irico New Energy has posted a first-half net profit for shareholders of CNY 61.1 million, down significantly from CNY 215 million in January-June 2021. The company said big volumes of solar glass production capacity have been coming online since June, dampening prices. It posted six-month revenue of CNY 1.1 billion, down from CNY 1.18 billion in the first half of 2021.

China Glass Holdings said this week that it is moving forward with the construction of fabs to produce solar panel glass, as its new energy-saving glass division accounted for just CNY 25.2 million of its total first-half gross profits of CNY 426 million. It said its main float glass business has been buffeted by problems in the real estate market and more expensive raw materials. China Glass posted a first-half profit for shareholders of CNY 121 million, down from CNY 302 million during the same period of 2021.