China PV News Snippets

East Hope groundbreaking of Wuhai PV production facility; Zhonghuan announces new silicon wafer prices; Shenghong Petrochemical materials facility starts; Guangdong No.2 Hydropower to invest in 800 MW PV project

Construction of East Hope's integrated PV fab starts: Silicon manufacturer East Hope said that the groundbreaking ceremony of its Wuhai photovoltaic fab was held. With an investment of RMB 18.27 billion ($2.64 billion), the first phase is planned to include 62,500 tons of polycrystalline silicon, 10 GW of crystal pulling, 10 GW of wafers, 10 GW of solar cells and 10 GW of PV modules. After completion, total output value is estimated to touch RMB 30 billion ($4.34 billion) and will provide over 7,000 new jobs. In July, East Hope inked a deal with the local government for its vertically integrated PV facility (see China PV News Snippets).

Zhonghuan Holdings raises silicon wafer prices: The parent company of leading wafer maker Zhonghuan, Zhonghuan Holdings Group, announced over WeChat the latest prices for its p-type and n-type monocrystalline silicon wafer. The price of all sizes of silicon wafers has been increased by RMB 0.12-0.24 ($0.017- $0.035) per wafer. Here are more details

In terms of p-type silicon wafers with a thickness of 150μm:

• the unit price of 218.2mm wafer rose to RMB 10.86 ($1.57), an increase of RMB 0.24 ($0.035),
• the unit price of 210mm wafer rose to RMB 10.06 ($1.45), an increase of RMB 0.23 ($0.033),
• the unit price of 182mm wafer rose to RMB 7.62 ($1.10), an increase of RMB 0.15 ($0.022),
• the unit price of 166mm wafer rose to RMB 6.33 ($0.91), an increase of RMB 0.12 ($0.017),
• the unit price of 158.75mm wafer rose to RMB 6.33 ($0.91), an increase of RMB 0.12 ($0.017).

For n-type silicon wafers with a thickness of 150μm:

• the unit price of 210mm wafer rose to RMB 10.66 ($1.54), an increase of RMB 0.24 ($0.035),
• the unit price of 182mm wafer rose to RMB 8.23 ($1.19), an increase of RMB 0.16 ($0.023),
• the unit price of 166mm wafer rose to RMB 6.84 ($0.99), an increase of RMB 0.13 ($0.019).

Construction begins for Shenghong Petrochemical materials facility: Jiangsu Province announced that Shenghong Petrochemical, a petrochemical industry cluster created by Shenghong Holding Group, held the groundbreaking ceremony of its new energy material facility in Lianyungang. Shenghong plans to build an EVA facility with an annual output of 700,000 tons/year, and also PO/SM and polyols, high-end polyolefins. The EVA facility will include 3 sets of 200,000 tons/year tubular photovoltaic grade EVA units; one 100,000 tons/year kettle type high-end hot melt adhesive grade EVA unit; and one 50,000 tons/year high-end copolymer EnBA unit. Once finished, the production capacity of Shenghong EVA will reach 1 million tons/year.

Guangdong No.2 Hydropower to invest in 800 MW PV project: Renewable energy engineering company Guangdong No.2 Hydropower Engineering announced that it will be investing in a photovoltaic project by Bachu Energy Company, which is owned by its subsidiary Xinjiang Yue Hydropower. The photovoltaic project will be of 800 MW and will be accompanied with a 200MW/800MWh energy storage device. The investment will be about RMB 5.1 billion ($0.74 billion), and will take three months to complete. Earlier this month, Guangdong No.2 Hydropower had invested in 200 MW solar storage projects (see China PV News Snippets)