Chinese PV manufacturer JA Solar started the year with a bang by unveiling details of a four-year, RMB6.6 billion ($947 million) expansion plan.
The Beijing-based solar cell and module maker revealed on Wednesday it has signed an investment framework agreement with the city of Yiwu to develop new production lines.
The news came three weeks after the company achieved a backdoor listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on December 12.
The company’s ambitious expansion plans run to 10 GW per year of new module manufacturing capacity, at a cost of around RMB3.82 billion, according to the company, and 5 GW of new cell lines worth RMB2.78 billion in the city, which is 100km south of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province.
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JA Solar did add, however, the four-year plan would be periodically reviewed and would remain subject to market conditions.
The solar giant, which has been ranked in the world’s top five module manufacturers by volume shipped for the last three years, was listed on the NASDAQ exchange in the U.S. from 2007 until 2018, when it controversially de-listed to switch to the Shenzhen exchange.
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A suggestion for 2020: when you report news from companies, take a look at their sustainability and emissions policies. JA Solar makes the right noises in its corporate sustainabiity report, but I don’t detect a high priority for cutting the carbon footprint. Emissions per Mw of panels were down in 2017 over 2016, and by more than the use of electricity – after a jump the year before.
Leading exporters like JA Solar are sensitive to their image, so press coverage from a trusted source like PVMagazine can make a differebce.
Hi James, That would fit with our greenwashing radar agenda but would be very time sensitive given the number of companies we cover. Is there perhaps an online scorecard we might use as a resource to help compile such footnotes?