Solargiga finally gets 600 MW ingot and wafer operation up and running

Aug 29, 2019 09:11 PM ET
  • The solar manufacturer today moved to reassure investors ahead of what promises to be another rocky set of first-half figures in two days’ time. The Hong Kong company says it wants to add another 3.6 GW of mono ingot and wafer capacity by early 2021.
Solargiga finally gets 600 MW ingot and wafer operation up and running
Image: See-ming Lee/Flickr
Hong Kong-based solar manufacturer Solargiga will be hoping history is not about to repeat itself after today announcing the overdue completion of a major expansion in its production capacity.

Last year the company had just spent big on doubling its solar module capacity to 2.2 GW when the Chinese authorities dropped their ‘5/31’ policy bombshell outlining an intent to drastically reduce public subsidies for solar project development.

However, Solargiga looks to be on a firmer footing this time around as it announced to the Hong Kong exchange today it had completed manufacturing facilities at a 600 MW monosilicon ingot and wafer production line in Qujing, in the Yunnan province of China.

In fact, the overdue completion of the production facility was cited as a reason the company expects to announce first-half losses more severe than those of RMB104 million reported at this stage last year.

More output planned

Solargiga, which is due to report its latest first-half figures on Friday, said today the 600 MW facility would “gradually commence mass production”.

Lauding “strong policy support from local government” for the project, Solargiga announced its intent to continue ramping up production to achieve a further 3.6 GW of annual capacity at the site by early 2021, with the help of “third-party partners”.

Chinese manufacturers are scrambling to ramp up production ahead of an anticipated solar project development spree which is expected to start next month as developers scramble to complete subsidized projects by the end of the year to secure their full energy tariffs.

Solargiga explained its rationale by pointing out the Qujing facility benefits from electricity which costs less than half the amount it pays for power at its current main manufacturing base in Jinzhou, Liaoning.

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