Solar module super league member Trina Solar has signed a supply agreement with the MPower Group, an Australian energy company, to supply modules and trackers for the latter’s 200MW solar portfolio in eastern Australia.
The deal is significant as it is the first manufacturing supply agreement in Australia to cover both modules and trackers. It was signed at the All-Energy Australia trade show in Melbourne, and will see the Chinese firm supply two products to MPower’s portfolio: 39.5MWp of Vertex N bifacial tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules and 31.2MWp of Vanguard 1P trackers.
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Trina Solar has agreed to supply the TOPCon modules and trackers to five of MPower’s utility-scale projects, out of what the latter expects to grow to a 30-project portfolio, with co-located battery energy storage systems.
The news follows the launch of Trina Solar’s first storage system, also at the All-Energy Australia event, and reflects Trina Solar’s growing footprint in the global power sector.
Earlier this year, the company signed a tracker supply deal in Colombia, which was immediately followed by a module supply deal in China. Trina Solar has also announced plans to build a 5GW module manufacturing facility in the US, to benefit from domestic solar manufacturing facilities incentivised under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the company’s work in Australia will only continue this growth.
“The innovative contract structure under this arrangement enables MPower to navigate pricing uncertainty on modules and trackers with confidence over a prolonged implementation timescale, where individual project characteristics on the entire portfolio of sites may initially be unknown or uncertain,” said Andrew Gilhooly, head of utility solutions and storage for Asia-Pacific at Trina Solar.
“For the sub 5MW AC segment in Australia this is important for our customers, as it enables them to scale quickly and successfully execute more projects within a more expedient timeframe.”