Meyer Burger Raises Capital To Expand Production Capacity

• Meyer Burger plans to have a new solar module production fab with 400 MW capacity coming online by 2022
• It will raise the company's total module production capacity to 1.4 GW by 2022-end, and similar for cells by the same timeline
• The new fab will produce utility scale solar modules, along with flexibility to produce modules for rooftop solar segment
• It won't be selling its HJT solar cells to 3^rd parties and will use all of it for its own modules
• Company has raised €185 million debt financing for its expansion plans

No sooner than it launched itself officially as a solar cell and module manufacturer launching its production facilities in Germany, Meyer Burger has announced plans to invest in a 2^nd module manufacturing fab with an initial capacity of 400 MW. It currently has 400 MW solar cell capacity in Thalheim and 400 MW module capacity in Freiberg, which it opened in the spring of 2021 (see Meyer Burger's Module Fab In Germany Now Open).

It has plans to expand its module capacity to 1 GW in Freiberg targeting residential and small commercial rooftop solar markets of Europe – and now it has announced Meyer Burger will be launching another 400 MW capacity at a 2^nd module fab location by the end of 2022. The management hasn't yet zeroed in on the site for the 2^nd module fab, but a selection process is going on.

The 2^nd fab will be designed to produce utility scale modules, with flexibility to also produce rooftop modules in line with market demand. Meyer Burger said it plans to introduce utility products (glass-foil modules and bifacial glass-glass modules) with up to 570 W module power and up to 22.9% efficiency in 2022.

The European solar manufacturer will be coming up with more manufacturing facilities as under the company's production capacity roadmap, it plans to increase both cell and module production capacity to 5 GW each and reach 7 GW each by 2027.

To realize its solar cell production expansion plan of reaching 1.4 GW (up from 400 MW now) at Bitterfeld-Wolfen and module capacity to 1 GW (up from 400 MW now) at Freiberg locations along with 400 MW at a new location, Meyer Burger has raised debt financing of €185 million from a group of savings, development and cooperative banks, led by German bank Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden.

Meyer Burger has also decided to not sell its heterojunction (HJT) solar cells to 3^rd parties as it had been planning to do previously. Instead, it will use up all of the cell capacity for its own modules.

The company has also provided its financial outlook for 2023 based on the revised plans and current market developments. It expects a revenue of CHF 550 million for 2023 with an expected gross profit margin of at least 40%, and EBITDA margin of a minimum of 25%. The company expects utility scale solar modules in 2023 to account for up to 30% of its shipped product mix. For 2027, it expects to report at least CHF 2 billion in overall sales.