Wafer manufacturer MEMC is to create 400 jobs by opening a new module production line in Ontario, Canada. Located in Newmarket on the outskirts of Toronto, the Flextronics-owned site will produce PV panels for the 60MW project pipeline of MEMC’s subsidiary, SunEdison.
The decision to establish a module manufacturing site in Ontario, as opposed to Southeast Asia, where SunEdision and Flextronics have a pre-existing manufacturing partnership, was made in part to meet the 60% domestic content requirement necessary to be eligible for Ontario’s feed-in-tariff (FiT). MEMC has not yet revealed the production capacity of the facility.
“This is really a continuation of our investment in the province,” SunEdison’s vice president and Canada country manager, Jason Gray said. “We’re certainly committed to the Ontario market and will continue to operate here for quite a few years. That obviously depends on the continuation of contracts coming out.”
