Hanwha supplying 100 MW mono PERC modules to China project

Korean module manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells has announced a 100 MW supply deal for a 150 MW solar plant in China's Hubei Province. The deal was inked with snappily named EPC contractor Central Southern China Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd. of China Power Engineering Consulting Group Corporation – which is building the plant for CGN New Energy.

The project is at Dafan town, in Tongshan county, Hubei province, a region with high solar irradiation which hosts renewable energy and battery storage projects.

Hanwha says the supply of modules has already begun, with the first batch of 30 MW arriving on site on November 2. The plant is expected to be ready for grid connection as early as the end of the year.

Hanwha says a previous 66 MW supply deal for a Top Runner project in July means it will have delivered 400 MW of modules to CGN Power Group.

In its second quarter update, the cell producer noted a 10.3% decline in revenues compared to the same period last year, from $578 million to $518 million. Hanwha cited a “difficult quarter”, due to falling sales in some key markets following policy changes – most probably a reference to China. However, the company said it was optimistic of better times ahead and felt the solar market would continue to grow “in the long term”.

IHS Markit has revised up its estimate for the Chinese market by several gigawatts to an encouraging 40 GW by the end of the year, which would mean a cumulative capacity of 165 GW. China is reportedly considering revising its 2020 solar development target up from 105 GW – which it has long since surpassed – to 210-270 GW.

In this vein, market research group, Fitch Solution Macro Research, forecasts the global solar market will experience 138% growth over the next decade. Cumulative global installation reportedly reached 395 GW last year, and is expected to climb to 942 GW by 2027.