JA Solar starts ramping 1.6GW monocrystalline ingot capacity expansion project

• ‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member, JA Solar has started ramping a 1.6GW monocrystalline ingot production expansion project at its main ingot production plant in Baotou, Inner Mongolia.

JA Solar said that the commissioning of the project was in line with the company's strategic requirements for capacity planning and reducing monocrystalline ingot and wafer production costs. It is expected that the monocrystalline ingot expansion is to accommodate larger wafer sizes, reducing production costs.

JA Solar’s combined in-house monocrystalline ingot and multicrystalline ingot casting capacity reached around 4GW in 2018.

The company recently announced plans to expand solar cell production capacity by 5GW and PV module assembly capacity by 10GW with capital expenditure of RMB 2.775 billion (US$399 million) and RMB 3.825 billion (US$549 million) respectively.

PV module capacity in mid-2019 was estimated to be approximately 10.5GW, up from 6.5GW at the end of 2017, ahead of the company going private and before its recent return to the stock market in China. JA Solar’s in-house solar cell manufacturing capacity had been 6.5GW at the end of 2017.

JA Solar has also announced that its 2020 working capital needs would not exceed RMB 16 billion (US$2.3 billion).