Chinese PV Industry Brief: More glass capacity and a 5GW module factory under construction

Glass maker Flat Glass announced on Wednesday a plan to add 7,200 MT of new glass capacity spread across six new production lines, each with a capacity of 1,200 MT. The estimated investment for the plan is around RMB6 billion ($949.6 million). All the lines will be located at the company's facilities in Nantong City, Jiangsu Province.

Panel manufacturer Eging PV announced on Friday it started construction of new PV panel factory with an annual capacity of 5 GW. The total investment in the new manufacturing facility will be RMB857 million ($136 million). Th new lines will be compatible with all kinds of solar cells based on 210mm wafers. Construction on the factory is expected to be finalized by the end of September.

Glass manufacturer Xinyi Glass on Wednesday announced it had signed a three-year deal to supply waste heat from the float glass production operations of its Xinyi Glass (Jiangsu) unit to the Xinyi Power (Suzhou) division of the connected Xinyi Electric Storage business. Xinyi Power will use the pressurized steam supplied for coating during its lithium ion battery production operation in Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province. Xinyi Power will pay an initial RMB180 ($28.48) per ton of steam, with its monthly payments subject to market conditions and not expected to exceed RMB2.7 million ($427,000) from Wednesday to year-end nor RMB3.3 million ($522,000) per year over the next two years.

Inner Mongolia will in the next four years deploy over 80 GW of new wind and solar power installations, accounting for over 60% of all new power installations, according to the province's new five-year energy development plan for the 2021-2025 period, published by the region's energy administration office. By end of 2020, Inner Mongolia had a renewable energy capacity of 53 GW, which accounted for around 36% of total power generation capacity. The figure comprises 37.9 GW of wind power, 12.4 GW of solar PV and the rest capacity from other renewables like hydrogen and biomass. The province plans to expand its renewable energy installations by 82 GW, or 155%, to 135 GW. The wind power target is set at 89 GW and solar PV at 45 GW.