Page 12 - AsiaElec Week 02 2023
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AsiaElec INVESTMENT AsiaElec
South Korea’s Hanwha Qcells to
invest $2.5bn in solar plant in US
SOUTH KOREA SOUTH Korea’s solar energy company Hanwha Silicon’s plant in Moses Lake, Washington State.
Qcells will invest $2.5bn in the US supply chain, In 2022, Hanwha bought 21% of REC, a Norwe-
building a manufacturing complex in Georgia gian firm.
that may employ as many as 2,500. “We are seeking to further expand our
The plant will manufacture solar components low-carbon solar investments as we lead the
such as silicon ingots, wafers and cells, as well as industry towards fully American-made clean
whole panels. energy solutions,” said Qcells CEO Justin Lee.
It is the largest solar investment in US history. “As demand for clean energy continues to
Qcells will be taking advantage of President grow nationally, we’re ready to put thousands
Joe Biden’s $300bn Inflation Reduction Act of people to work creating fully American made
(IRA), which gives generous manufacturing and sustainable solar solutions, from raw mate-
tax credits to renewable energy components rial to finished panels,” he added.
made in America. Most solar components are President Joe Biden said that Qcells’ invest-
currently made in China or by Chinese firms in ment “will bring back our supply chains so we
Southeast Asia. aren’t reliant on other countries, lower the cost
Qcells said it will expand its existing solar of clean energy and help us combat the climate
panel factory in Dalton, Georgia, the largest crisis. And, it will ensure that we manufacture
manufacturer of solar panels in the Western cutting-edge, solar technology here at home. It’s
Hemisphere, and open a second facility in Cart- a win for workers, consumers, and our climate.”
ersville, Georgia. Qcells had launched its first solar panel man-
The Dalton plant will be expanded this year ufacturing plant in Georgia in 2019, quickly
to have a capacity of 5.1 GW a year, up from 2 becoming the largest US producer. By year-end
GW a year to 5.1 GW. Production will begin in 2022, it was producing 12,000 panels daily. The
Cartersville in 2024, said Qcells. new facility will increase its capacity to 60,000
Qcells will use polysilicon made at REC panels per day, reported the New York Times.
Tajikistan extends deal on
power exports to Afghanistan
AFGHANISTAN AFGHANISTAN’S power company Da Afghan- Uzbekistan has extended its contract to supply
istan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) has announced electricity to Afghanistan until the end of 2023.
that Tajikistan has agreed to continue supplying Afghanistan worked with Uzbekistan to
the country with electricity until 2023, Ariana extend the contract through 2022 after the Tali-
News reported on January 11. ban took control of the country in August 2021.
The contract was signed in the presence of At that time, DABS stated that Uzbekistan would
Afghan energy and water affairs minister Mullah export 2bn kW of electricity to Afghanistan dur-
Abdul Latif Mansour and the head of Tajikistan’s ing 2022, at a cost of around $100mn.
national power utility company Mohammad Afghanistan, however, needs over 5bn kW of
Omar Asuzada. electricity a year. It relies on imported electric-
The extension comes after recent reports ity from its neighbouring countries including
from DABS that technical issues have caused a Tajikistan, which, of the Central Asian ‘stans’, is
50% decrease in electricity imported from other generally seen as having the worst relations with
countries. the Taliban..
DABS also recently announced that
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