Chinese PV Industry Brief: Coal producer enters PV business, Jinko builds frame factory

China Pingmei Shenma Group, a state-owned coal power producer and chemicals supplier, said on Wednesday that it will enter the PV module business with a 5 GW production line in Xuchang, Henan province. Henan Investment Group, which is owned by the provincial government, will be a partner. The company will invest about RMB2 billion ($289.1 million) in the project, as well as another RMB1 billion in a new PV glass factory with a capacity of 900 MT per day.

JinkoSolar has started building a new factory to produce aluminum frames for solar panels. Upon completion, the facility will have an annual production capacity of 30 million module frames. The manufacturer plans to invest about RMB2 billion, with construction expected to wrap up by June 2021.

Tongwei‘s Yongxiang Silicon subsidiary said on Thursday that floods in Leshan, Sichuan province, have finally receded, after forcing one of its factories offline on Wednesday. The group has determined that none of its manufacturing equipment was destroyed by the floods. The shutdown has shaved 25% off the group’s 80,000 MT annual production capacity, but Tongwei said it is still operating 60,000 MT of production capacity. Production at the Leshan plant will likely resume within 10 days, depending on the flooding situation, the company said.

Daqo said this week that it recorded $133.5 million of revenue in the second quarter of 2020, from $66 million a year earlier. Its polysilicon sales more than doubled year on year from 7,130 MT to 18,881 MT. “Beginning in late March, the global spread of Covid-19 and related lockdowns, particularly in the United States, Europe, and certain emerging markets, resulted in significant disruptions to demand for solar PV products,” said Daqo CEO Longgen Zhang. “End-market customers delayed module orders and shipments due to uncertainties about the duration and economic impact of the pandemic, as well as logistical challenges.”