Swedish BIPV module manufacturer and CIGS turnkey equipment supplier Midsummer has begun work on its 50 MW manufacturing facility in Bari, in the southern Italian region of Apulia.
The company said the factory is being built with the support of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) and the Italian investment institution Invitalia, which is part of the Italian Ministry of Finance, which provided a €38 million low-interest loan for the project.
Overall, Midsummer expects to invest around €66 million in the new manufacturing facility. Production is expected to start next summer. Around 35% of the investment would be covered by the grants and 23% by the low-interest loans. The funds come from the economic stimulus program of the Italian government to rebuild the economy.
“We will increase our maximum production capacity tenfold and the factory will make Midsummer the largest manufacturer of thin-film solar cells in Europe,” said CEO Sven Lindström. So far the manufacturer, which, in addition to flexible thin-film modules also offers solar roof tiles, has a production facility in Järfälla, Sweden.
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The factory will be equipped with the company's own DUO machines.
Midsummer says it has seen a 500% increase in incoming orders in the third quarter. The demand for its PV modules, which are just two millimeters thick and extremely light, at three kilograms per square meter, is claimed to be very strong in the Nordic countries. The products that will be produced in Bari in the future are primarily intended for customers in southern Europe, the manufacturer said.
The factory will be operated by the wholly-owned subsidiary Midsummer Italia.
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