Tongwei Sold 22 GW Cells In H1/2022

• Tongwei produced 107,300 ton polysilicon in H1/2022, reflecting an annual increase of 112.15%
• Its solar cell sales during the period were a total of 21.79 GW with large size cells accounting for over 75%
• It expects to commission 8 GW cell capacity at Jintang phase II and 8.5 GW Meishan phase III by the end of 2022 to expand its annual solar cell capacity from 54 GW to 70 GW

Chinese polysilicon and solar cell manufacturer Tongwei sold 21.79 GW worth of solar cells in H1/2022 while growing its operating income by 127.16% to RMB 60.34 billion and producing 107,300 tons of high purity crystalline silicon with an annual increase of 112.15%.

With this amount of polysilicon produced, Tongwei says it accounted for nearly 30% of the domestic market share as China as a whole produced about 365,000 tons polysilicon (see China's Solar PV Production Capacity In H1/2022). The company ran its production facilities at full capacity during the reporting period.

In a stock exchange announcement, Tongwei said at the end of June 2022, its cumulative global shipment of solar cells exceeded 100 GW, making it the 1^st manufacturer in the industry to reach the milestone.

At the end of June 2022, its cumulative high-purity crystalline silicon production capacity was 230,000 tons at its fabs in Leshan, Baotou and Baoshan. Tongwei's aggregate annual solar cell production capacity was 54 GW at its production bases in Shuangliu, Jintang, Meishan and Hefei regions.

During the reporting period, Tongwei says it accelerated the production capacity of its 50,000 ton Leshan phase II and 50,000 ton Baoshan phase I projects. It expects to get the 120,000 ton Leshan phase III project up and running in H2/2023.

Management admitted to experiencing tight supply of key components for its solar cell business especially silicon wafers whose price continued to increase, but managed to sail through with strong downstream demand. Sensing market demand, it continued to boost the share of large size cells in new production capacity. Large sized cell shipments accounted for more than 75% of the total.

By the end of 2022, it sees the company's cell production capacity to exceed 70 GW with the commissioning of 8 GW Jintang phase II and 8.5 GW Meishan phase III projects. Large sized cells are likely to represent more than 90% of the total.

It added, "In order to meet the needs of downstream customers for a new generation of solar cell products, the company plans to build a new 8.5 GW TOPCon cell production line, which is expected to be completed and put into operation by the end of 2022. At the same time, the highest R&D efficiency of the company's HJT cell has reached 25.67% (ISFH certification), and the metallization technology to replace silver has also achieved important milestones. The company will continue to focus on HJT cell efficiency improvement and cost reduction. In addition, the company has also carried out research and development of cutting-edge technologies such as full-back contact cells and perovskite/silicon tandem cells."

With the current heatwave increasing demand for electricity in China's Sichuan province, the government is rationing power supply, taking it away from industrial activities for few weeks, which is likely to hamper the production activity for solar among other industries.

According to local media outlet China Daily, Tongwei operates 110,000 MT of solar grade silicon facility in Sichuan province. Tongwei, however, sees limited impact of the rationing on its production activities at present.