China Renewable Energy Industry Update: Jul. 12

Posted by Reading Time: 6 minutes

Jul. 12 – This is a regular series of relevant industry news from around China.

Chinese Astroenergy, Munich Re ink photovoltaic module insurance agreement
Chinese Astroenergy, a unit of low voltage electronics supplier Chint Group, said it has signed an insurance agreement for its photovoltaic module production with German reinsurer Munich Re.

The contract covers all crystalline photovoltaic modules that Astroenergy produces and sells in 2011 and 2012, starting on January 1, 2011, and also the performance warranties which Astroenergy provides against excessive power loss in the next 25 years.

The agreement follows a year of cooperation in 2010. Astroenergy said it was the first Chinese photovoltaic module maker to win Munich Re’s confidence.

Sinovel to supply 1 gigawatt of wind turbines to Irish Mainstream Renewable
Irish renewable energy developer Mainstream Renewable Power said it has signed a supply deal for 1 gigawatt of wind turbines with Chinese wind turbine major Sinovel Wind Group. Under the deal, Sinovel will provide the technology for the wind farms that Mainstream will develop in Ireland by 2016.

Sinovel would consider local supply chain opportunities in Ireland, if the Irish government sets long-term wind power targets, Mainstream said.

Sinovel’s vice president, Lecheng Li, said the construction of the first projects would start later this year and Sinovel planned to deliver steady flow of turbines in 2012 and 2013 up to an average 250 megawatts a year from 2014 onwards.

Mainstream, which is developing 16 gigwatts of wind and solar projects globally at present, has lately opened an office in Beijing, seeking Chinese technology providers for its projects pipeline in Europe, the Americas and Africa.

Neo Solar to achieve 1.3 gigawatt capacity in July
Taiwanese solar cell maker Neo Solar Power Corp announced recently that it would reach a manufacturing capacity of 1.3 gigawatts in July. The company is nearing completion of a new production unit in Taiwan, with equipment installation at the site to be finalized before the month is over.

Neo Solar is targeting higher conversion efficiencies and production line yields, in a bid to further expand its global market share. Initially, it planned to bolster its capacity to 1.3 gigawatts by the end of 2011.

In March, the company rolled out on the market a new mono-crystalline solar cell with average conversion efficiency of up to 18.4 percent. Its first-quarter revenues reached US$253 million, an increase of 141.13 percent on the year.

Shanghai Aerospace seeks to secure US$340 million in stock offering
Shanghai Aerospace Automobile Electromechanical Co Ltd said on July 4 it planned to raise as much as US$340 million in a stock offering to finance solar power projects.

The company is to sell up to 220.9 million shares. Its affiliate Aerospace Investment Holding Co Ltd intends to subscribe for at least 10 percent of the offered amount.

Shanghai Aerospace is principally engaged in new energy development. It also makes car spare parts, solar batteries, fuel oil pipes and car electronic products.

China Silicon intends to double capacity in 2011
China Silicon Corp is planning to double its polysilicon capacity to 10,000 tons in 2011, ICIS news said, citing a person close to the company.

Currently, the company operates two polysilicon production facilities in Henan Province. One of the units has an annual capacity of 1,000 tons, while the capacity of the other factory is planned to reach 9,000 tons.

Polysilicon is a key raw material for the solar power and the electronics sector. China Silicon makes both solar and electronic-grade silicon.

Beijing Kinglong New Energy to establish factory, R&D center in Jiangsu
Solar inverter maker Beijing Kinglong New Energy Technology Co Ltd (KLNE) has commenced construction of a new manufacturing plant and a research and development center in East China’s Jiangsu Province.

The facilities will be built on a 100-acre (40.5 hectare) site in the city of Changzhou, the company said. It did not provide further details.

Currently KLNE operates manufacturing plants in Shenzhen, Xuchang and Beijing. The company is a Chinese-U.S. joint venture.

Aide Solar receives MCS certificate for U.K. market
Chinese photovoltaic modules producer Aide Solar, part of the Panjit Group, said on July 5 it had obtained certification under the United Kingdom’s microgeneration certification scheme (MCS).

MCS is an internationally recognized independent quality assurance scheme that certifies microgeneration products. The certification allows for projects built with Aide Solar mono and polycrystalline modules to qualify for U.K. solar feed-in tariffs, thus providing an opportunity for the company to expand into the rapidly growing British solar market.

The certification will support Aide Solar’s efforts to expand its business in Europe. In June, the company opened its European headquarters in Spain in partnership with Spanish energy solutions provider Hikari Solar.

Hikari Solar, which has sales offices in Italy and Germany, is the newly authorized partner in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East for Panjit Group and Aide Solar.

Solairedirect begins construction of five solar projects using JinkoSolar modules
Chinese solar products maker JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd on July 6 said that French solar energy company Solairedirect had started construction of five solar projects with JinkoSolar photovoltaic modules.

The five ground-mounted solar projects developed by Solairedirect have a combined capacity of 25 megawatts.

Under the supply agreement between the two companies, JinkoSolar had started module delivery in the first quarter, and would continue shipments by the third quarter of the current year, it said.

ENN to construct thin-film PV panel factory, 720-megawatt solar plant in Nevada
ENN Mojave Energy, a unit of Chinese energy company ENN Group, plans to build a thin-film photovoltaic panel factory and a 720-megawatt solar power plant on public land in the U.S. state of Nevada.

The Clark County Board of Commissions voted on July 5 to begin talks with ENN Mojave Energy for a deal to sell or lease the requested 5,400 acres (2,185 ha) of public land, probably below its market value, green energy news portal Rechargenews.com reports.

ENN Mojave’s project will include a factory with a total capacity of 5.4 million thin-film panels annually and a solar power plant of two 360-megawatt phases with thin-film panels from the factory.

The web site cited ENN representative Richard Bryan’s letter to Clark County staff as saying that the project would require US$4 billion to US$6 billion in capital investment and create 2,000 permanent manufacturing jobs.

China Yangtze boosts H1 2011 power output by 6.5 percent Y/Y
Hydropower producer China Yangtze Power produced 39.08 million MWh for the first six months of 2011, 6.46 percent more than a year ago.

Output at the company’s Three Gorges hydropower plant went up by 7.26 percent in annual terms to 31.92 million MWh. The Gezhouba hydroelectric facility generated 7.17 million MWh, up 3.06 percent.

China eyes 13 gigawatt biomass power capacity by 2015
China is to bolster its installed biomass power capacity to 13 gigawatts by end-2015, in line with a plan to increase the share of non-fossils in the national energy mix, China Securities Journal said. According to the report, the country is planning to lift subsidies for the biomass power sector in the coming five years.

Near the end of June, Han Wenke, head of energy research at China’s National Development and Reform Commission, announced that by 2030 China will seek to source 20 percent of its energy mix from renewables and nuclear power. The share of alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind, hydro, nuclear and biomass is planned to reach 33 percent by 2050.

China Solar to expand business via Anhui Xinhui buy
China Solar Energy Holdings Ltd said that it would acquire all of the stock of domestic solar power plants developer and operator Anhui Xinhui Renewable Energy Investment seeking to grow its solar power business.

The company has agreed to acquire Anhui Xinhui’s parent – Solar Market – for HK$160 million (US$20.6 million) in stock. The amount includes 1.72 billion common shares representing 14.2 percent of China Solar’s issued share capital after the acquisition.

Anhui Xinhui reported a net loss of RMB3.7 million (US$ 572,000) for the six months through June 2011 and zero revenues.

CNPV to deliver 60 megawatts of solar modules in California
Chinese solar firm CNPV Solar Power said last week it had agreed to deliver 60 megawatts of solar modules to Californian 2COR9 Energy under a three-year sales agreement.

Under the deal, CNPV will supply 10 megawatts of modules this year, 20 megawatts in 2012 and 30 megawatts in 2013.

2COR9 Energy will integrate the modules into its turnkey solar solutions program.

This industry report brief is courtesy of AII Data Processing.

Related Reading

Foreign Investment in China’s Green Sector
The June issue of China Briefing magazine offering an overview of the country’s renewable energy sector and discussing environment-related tax incentives before concluding with a look at foreign involvement in China’s green building industry.