GCL Poly

A unit of China’s GCL group has moved forward with a $30 million strategic investment in Millennial Lithium by finalizing the first of two payments for a 17% stake in the Canadian exploratory mining firm.

GCL New Energy will likely post a profit of CNY 450 million ($67.4 million) in the first half of 2017, from a profit  of just CNY 147 million a year earlier, as it connected 1.04 GW of new solar capacity to the grid.

GCL-Poly Energy has signed a framework agreement with semiconductor manufacturer Tianjin Zhonghuan, under which the two sides will collaborate of the production of polysilicon and wafers, in addition to downstream PV project development.

Group unit Suzhou GCL Operation has agreed to provide operation and management services for 353 MW of solar capacity owned by PV investor Suzhou GCL-Poly throughout China.

Hong Kong-listed PV developer GCL New Energy has agreed to sell 320 MW of solar panels to China Resources Leasing for CNY 148.5 million ($21.5 million), as part of supply arrangements for the first 40 MW phase of a planned PV array in Zhanjiang, in China’s Guangdong province.

The Chinese energy group’s external sales of polysilicon fell about 43.4% year on year to 1,896 metric tons (MT) in the January-March period.

The clean energy company is spending RMB 5.68 billion on the creation of the poly plant, which will comprise 40,000 tonnes of new production capacity and 20,000 tonnes of relocated capacity from the firm’s existing facility in Xuzhou.

Suzhou GCL New Energy and GCL System Suzhou have agreed to jointly invest 200 million yuan ($29 million) in projects in China.

The Chinese PV maker has joined its fellow manufacturers in expanding to Southeast Asia though a partnership with a Vietnamese cell maker.