Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 04 2021
P. 9
AsiaElec SOL AR AsiaElec
JA Solar expands solar cell
manufacturing plans
JAPAN CHINA’S JA Solar aims to build 10 GW per JA solar plans to have 35 GW of module
year of new solar cell manufacturing capacity in assembly capacity at the end of 2021 as it pushes
Yangzhou, expanding its previous plans to build forward a series of expansion plans across China.
6 GW at the site by 66%. However, this is subject to change as previ-
The company, which shipped 10.3GW of PV ously announced projects begin construction,
modules in 2019, has approved plans to develop through to production ramps of monocrystal-
a total of 10 GW of solar cell capacity and 6 GW line wafers, cell and modules at multiple sites,
of module capacity in the Yangzhou Economic mainly in China.
and Technological Development Zone (ETDZ). In 2019, JA Solar was the second-biggest
JA Solar said that the plans included a two- manufacturer of solar modules in the world,
phase approach. The first phase would be a behind only Jinko Solar with 14.2 GW.
6-GW solar cell and a 6-GW module assembly JA Solar’s performance, with 10.3 GW, repre-
plant, with a total planned investment of around sented a 17% increase on 2018, driven by expan-
CNY6bn ($926mn). sion into emerging markets in the Middle East.
The second extended phase would include a The global solar PV market is experiencing
4-GW solar cell expansion with an investment of higher demand, continuous cost reduction,
around CNY4bn ($617mn). software and technology development and
The company intends to complete the first improvement in module efficiency, the report
phase of the project by the start of 2024 and aims commented.
to have the module assembly plant partially Solar has also been resilient to the coronavirus
operational by the end of 2021. (COVID-19) pandemic. Crucially, the levelised
However, the 4-GW second phase would be cost of energy (LCOE) fell as solar system effi-
subject market demand and negotiated sepa- ciency and performance improved and the use
rately with the ETDZ, the company said. of data analytics became more sophisticated.
Week 03 27•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
