Chinese Company Planning Uzbek Solar Panel Fab

• Fergana municipality says China's Jiangxi LDK Solar has expressed the intent to establish a large solar panel manufacturing facility in the region
• The project is expected to use Chinese equipment and cost an investment of $75 million
• Annual production facility of the proposed fab has not been disclosed but the Chinese company says it will expand the same in the future

Chinese vertically integrated solar PV producer Jiangxi LDK Solar Hi-Tech Co Ltd has proposed to build a solar panel production facility with an undisclosed annual capacity in Fergana municipality of Uzbekistan for an investment worth $75 million.

Fergana Governor Khairullo Bozorov made the announcement after meeting company representatives who said LDK plans to build a large factory in the region and expand it further in the future. All necessary equipment for its construction will be supplied from China.

Probable location of the proposed fab could be the region's free economic zone Ko'kan which the local government said it is prepping to host new industrial projects. There was no other information shared by the Governor's office in the brief announcement.

As momentum builds in the US against using Chinese polysilicon, India backing local PV manufacturing industry through the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) and imposing Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on imported solar cells and panels, and Europe bringing in its own Green Deal Industrial Plan, Chinese companies seem to be looking up newer markets to invest in and Uzbekistan is a likely contender with its 7 GW solar PV capacity target for 2030.

Recently Uzbek Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov announced collaborations with Chinese companies CEEC Energy China and the consortium of Huaneng Renewables and Poly Technologies for direct investment of $4 billion in building a total of 4 GW solar PV capacity in the country (see Chinese Companies Strike Deals For 4 GW Uzbek PV).