‘Solar Module Super League’ manufacturer JinkoSolar is to invest RMB450 million (US$70.3 million) in Tongwei Solar subsidiary Sichuan Yongxiang Energy Technology to help finance a 100,000MT high-purity polysilicon facility.
In return for the investment to help construct the plant, Jinko will receive 30,000MT of polysilicon per year and will “share the pro rata profit allocated by the paid-in capital” with Sichuan Yongxiang for the entirety of the joint venture.
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The initial agreement was announced in November 2020 and, at the time, Tongwei said the contract would run until December 2023. No updated was provided in today’s announcement.
The plant was announced back in July, when Tongwei signed an agreement with Leshan City, Sichuan Province to establish two 100,000MT polysilicon manufacturing facilities, with the first to be completed by the end of 2022.
Once finalised, the transaction will see Jinko’s operating subsidiary, Jinko Solar Co., hold a 15% stake in the Sichuan Yongxiang, according to a February update on the partnership.
“The strategic investment into this new high-purity polysilicon production line based in Leshan, Sichuan Province, is beneficial because it is geographically close to JinkoSolar’s major mono wafer production facilities,” said Kangping Chen, CEO of JinkoSolar, adding that the agreement would guarantee the company’s long-term wafer and module production.
Polysilicon prices have been rising since February, with knock-on effects on modules prices, causing uncertainty and delays along the entire solar supply chain. The price hikes were caused by several factors and saw polysilicon suppliers plan more capacity expansions to combat the rising prices.
PV Tech Premium’s Price Watch has examined what the ‘peak polysilicon price’ might be amid the unforeseen and ‘unprecedented’ issues that have emerged over the past few months.
Just yesterday (2 November), JinkoSolar launched its new series of ultra-efficient, n-type PV modules, dubbed the Tiger Neo that it claimed has a conversion efficiency of up to 22.3%.