China's listed firms increase investment in PV industry

Electricians check photovoltaic solar panels in Sheyanghu Township of Baoying County, east China's Jiangsu Province, Nov. 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

BEIJING, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Upbeat about the solar industry, China's listed firms stepped up investing in the photovoltaic (PV) business, reported Shanghai Securities News on Thursday.

Trina Solar (688599.SH), a global leading provider for PV module and smart energy solution, on Wednesday announced to launch a large silicon wafer project in Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone of east China's Jiangsu Province, with a total investment in fixed assets of 3 billion yuan (about 459 million U.S. dollars). Once completed, the annual capacity is expected to reach 8.5 gigawatts (GW). 

In fact, this is not the first investment made by Trina Solar in Yancheng. In August, it invested in the zone to upgrade PV facility and launch a new high-efficieny battery project. After the latest agreement, its production capacity in Yancheng will be added up to about 18.5 GW.

The firm said that encouraging policies and complete industrial chain in the region could allow it to expand its presence in the field and reduce costs.

Meanwhile, another two market players, KBC Corporation, Ltd. (688598. SH) and JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd. (002459.SZ) also announced their moves in the PV field. 

KBC, based in central China's Hunan province, on Tuesday inked a long-term deal worth about 1.6 billion yuan with Longi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd., China's top PV module supplier, to provide the latter with carbon-based composite materials.

On Wednesday, two subsidies under JA Solar Technology, a Shanghai-based PV products manufacturer, signed agreements with suppliers in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jiangsu Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to buy raw materials such as mono-crystalline silicon and poly-crystalline silicon.

These moves may result from optimistic projection for the industry. China's PV industry is expected to embrace faster growth, with the country's average annual growth of installed power capacity expected to hit 70 GW during the 14th Five Year Plan period (2021-2025), said Wang Bohua, secretary general of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association at an industrial conference.

(Edited by Li Shimeng with Xinhua Silk Road, lishimeng@xinhua.org)