Hainan Drinda Automotive Trim Co. Ltd. (Drinda) announced on December 25 that its subsidiary Shangrao Jietai New Energy Technology Co. Ltd. (Jietai) has entered into an investment cooperation agreement with the management committee of a local economic development zone within China’s Anhui Province to set up a production base for the manufacturing of high-efficiency PV cells. Jietai is expected to invest a total of around RMB 11.2 billion, of which RMB 7 billion will be related to fixed assets. Once fully completed, the base will have an annual production capacity of 16GW. This story was first reported by Chinese renewable energy news websites.
The development of the base will be divided into two phases, each accounting for half of the total investment (i.e., RMB 5.6 billion, of which RMB 3.5 billion will be related to fixed assets). The first phase will take up around 400 mu of land and install 8GB of production capacity. The second phase will span an area of 300 mu. The production lines of the base will be spread across the economic development zone. The reporting by Chinese news websites said that the production lines will be located at four sites within Anhui’s Lai’an County. Also, the exact placement of the production lines along with the facility area, the zoning designation, etc. is still subject to the terms of the land concession deal that is still being negotiated.
The first phase will see the setup of production facility buildings, supporting infrastructure, and worker dormitory. It will also include the move-in and installation of the equipment for cell manufacturing and other supporting operations. The second phase is expected to be similar in most respects, but Jietai and the local government are still formulating its actual development schedule.
The first phase is to be carried out in accordance with a unified plan that will lead to one-time implementation. Construction will begin within one month following the inking of the investment cooperation agreement and finish within six to eight months. Once completed, the first phase is scheduled to ramp up to fully loaded capacity within a year. Using the current market price as the reference for calculation, the value of the output from the base will come to at least RMB 9 billion annually for the first two years of operation and at least 8 billion for the third year. In terms of production capacity, the base will attain an annual average of at least 8GW for the first five years of operation. As for annual taxable income, the base will be able to provide RMB 250 million on average.
Jietai currently offers PERC cells in sizes of 210mm, 182mm, and 166mm. It is driving Drinda’s expansion into the PV sector.