Southeast Asia & Oceania

Taiwan-based solar wafer producer Green Energy Technology (GET) reported a significant leap in sales for the month of January on the back of higher prices due to industry supply constraints.

Taiwan-based merchant solar cell producer Solartech Energy Corp reported almost a 10% decline in sales for January, 2016, marking a line under record sales achieved in December, 2015.

Australia-based energy company Genex Power has received development approval for its 150MW Kidston Solar PV project, which would be the largest solar plant in Australia one complete

The state government of Queensland, which is the largest market in Australia for sub-100kW solar systems, has ruled out proposals for retrospective cuts to the state’s Solar Bonus Scheme.

Asia-based polysilicon producer Tokuyama Corp said it would take a one-time impairment charge of ¥123.4 billion (US$1.02 billion) on its two polysilicon plants in Malaysia as ASPs were lower than expected and not inline with previous business guidance.

The second-largest Silicon Module Super League (SMSL) member, Canadian Solar has secured US$70 million in loans and equity investment from the International Finance Corporation to support its previously announced plans to establish a 300MW module assembly plant in Vietnam and production plants elsewhere, such as Brazil.

China-based module assembly automation specialist Suzhou Horad New Energy Equipment Co (Horad) has secured a new 500MW automated turnkey module line order from Xinneng Solar.

Solar deployment worldwide was 59GW in 2015, according to provisional figures released by analyst firm GTM Research.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA), spearheaded by India, is about to take shape with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and French president Francois Hollande due to lay a foundation stone for the new ISA headquarters in Delhi on 25 January.

Solar developers AGL Energy and First Solar have completed Australia’s two largest solar PV plants at Nyngan (102MW) and Broken Hill (53MW), which included AU$166.7 million support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).