Tongwei Solar, a global leading manufacturer of high-purity crystalline silicon and solar cells, has once again broken industry records. By the end of 2023, the company's cumulative global shipment of cells has reached 200GW, with a remarkable market share of 15%, consistently ranking first in global shipments for six consecutive years. This achievement is attributed to Tongwei Solar's continuous efforts in vertically integrating the photovoltaic (PV) industry chain, as well as its steadfast determination in technological innovation and capacity expansion.
The 200GW PV cells can generate 277.4 billion kWh of clean energy power and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 182.12 million tons. This is equivalent to meeting the annual electricity needs of 164.302 million households in urban and rural areas, saving 83.6361 million tons of standard coal per year, and is equivalent to planting about 997,231 hectares of forests and 1.82 billion trees. These figures fully demonstrate Tongwei Solar's significant contributions to promoting global energy transition and tackling climate change.
Currently, the PV industry is at a critical juncture of technological updates and iterations. With a global vision and forward-looking thinking, Tongwei Solar has fully leveraged its role as a leading player in the industry chain to accelerate the establishment of an innovation chain for the PV industry. On November 30, 2023, Tongwei Solar officially launched its Global Innovation and R&D Center project, aiming to build a national enterprise R&D center with strong technical strength. By the end of 2023, Tongwei Solar had a total of 1,917 patent applications, including 1,756 domestic patent applications and 1,069 patent grants. The company keeps driving its development with technological innovation.
In terms of capacity planning, Tongwei Solar is continuously increasing its investment. The construction of the phase IV project of the Meishan Base is advancing efficiently. Upon completion, it will become the world's largest production base for crystalline silicon solar cells. According to the company's capacity planning, Tongwei Solar aims to achieve a capacity of 130-150GW for solar cells in 2024-2026.
Tongwei Solar has also made new progress in the silicon material segment. At the end of 2023, Tongwei Solar reached an agreement with the Ordos government in Inner Mongolia to jointly construct a green base material integration project with an investment of RMB 28 billion (USD 3.9 billion). The project will be implemented in two phases, including a project for the annual production of 500,000 tons of green base material (industrial silicon) and 400,000 tons of high-purity crystalline silicon, as well as supporting facilities. Each phase is expected to take 15-18 months for construction, and the first phase is planned to be completed and put into operation before the end of December 2025. The construction of the second phase will be started according to market conditions. These initiatives will further enhance Tongwei Solar's competitiveness in the upstream of the PV industry chain.