Indian solar manufacturer Waaree Energies will expand its ingot, wafer, cell and module production capacity by 6GW following a second round equity funding raise of around INR10 billion (US$121 million).
The funding was led by Indian-headquartered investment firm ValueQuest and follows the INR19.23 billion awarded to Waaree under the Indian government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in March, for which the company received the maximum 6GW of wafer, cell and module capacity that was available.
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With this funding, the company continues to ramp up its production capacity after announcing last year a module manufacturing expansion to 12GW per year that was set operational in March 2023.
The second round of the PLI awarded just under 40GW of domestic Indian solar manufacturing capacity – noticeably short of its initial 65GW target – and a report from industry analyst JMK Research in April forecasted that India would reach 110GW of nameplate PV module capacity by 2026.
“This funding, we believe will assist in our growth, expand our market presence, and drive positive change in the renewable energy transition,” said Hitesh Doshi, chairman and MD at Waaree Energies.
Fellow Indian solar manufacturer Adani recently raised US$349 million for a 10GW fully integrated production capacity expansion. The announcements for domestic capacity are promising for India’s market following the supply issues that followed the implementation of the basic customs duty (BCD) and approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM) policies, which impose tariffs on solar imports and limit the companies and products that can operate in India.
The government had to relax its ALMM policy for two years in February this year as procurement issues continued, and experts have said that the shortages are set to last until the end of this year, with more capacity expected to begin coming online in 2024.
PV Tech contacted Waaree for confirmation of the cell technologies that will be produced under the new capacity.