Another Taiwanese PV manufacturer has decided to get into the power plant investment business. AUO recently announced to join in a platform with Taiwanese insurance companies to invest in Taiwan’s local PV plants. The proportion of AUO’s share will not surpass 40%.
AUO is optimistic about its future development of renewable energy and aims to create a low-carbon sustainable home. With its own experiences in the PV plant areas, AUO has decided to team up with local insurance firms to invest in a joint venture (JV) company which was established in 2014, focusing on PV plant investment.
The capital investment is set to be NT$ 3 billion for companies participated in this investment. AUO’s share will not surpass 40% and its total investment will not exceed NT$ 1.2 billion under phased investment. The NT$ 3 billion is enough to construct NT$ 10 billion (nearly 200MW) of power plants, creating a sustainable environment.
Related investors haven’t confirmed this investment. AUO did not disclose other details.
AUO has been planning for it for a long time and keeps working on expansion
AUO is one of the major manufacturers that entered the PV industry in an early stage in Taiwan. The company announced earlier this year to increase its PV capacity to 30MW in 2016 and further increase to 50MW next year.
AUO is ready to enter the downstream sectors as they are optimistic about the potential of PV market in Taiwan. Following the business restructure of M.Steke, a Japanese polysilicon maker, AUO announced in September to sell all of its shares in AUO SunPower Sdn. Bhd.（AUSP）, which is a company joint ventured by AUO and SunPower in Melaka, Malaysia. AUSP has a total of 800MW PV cell capacity, including high-efficiency back-electrode batteries.
EnergyTrend once projected that AUO’s continuous acquisition of mid-to-upstream businesses may have something to do with its ambition to enter the downstream power plant sector. Since AUO holds a leading position in brand and market in Taiwan, developing power plants in Taiwan will benefit them.
Three Taiwanese PV makers have established power plant companies
Before AUO, Taiwan has already had two other PV makers that decided to invest in power plant companies. One is Neo Solar Power (NSP) and another one is SAS. The two companies both chose to work with Cathay Pacific Life Insurance.
The total capital investment is NT$ 9.5 billion for all three PV makers, which is enough to build power plant with more than 600MW of PV capacity. All Three of them indicated that their main purpose is to invest in local power plants.