Smart Solar Technologies of Turkey plans to establish a solar cell & module factory in Bulgaria
The government has accorded the BGN 240 million project a priority investment status
It will be located in the Stara Zagora municipality and established by the Turkish company’s local subsidiary
Bulgaria is set to establish a solar cell and module production factory in the country after the Council of Ministers approved a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Turkish solar PV manufacturer Smart Solar Technologies for its implementation.
While the annual production capacity of the project wasn’t disclosed, the government said the production is intended for export to the European markets of Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Austria.
According to its website, Istanbul-headquartered Smart Solar has an annual solar module manufacturing capacity of 2.9 GW, and 2 GW for solar cells, with a focus on PERC technology.
The Bulgarian fab will be implemented by a 100% subsidiary of the group in Bulgaria, according to a public disclosure by the company. Smart Solar Technologies AD has picked the Village of Elenino in Stara Zagora municipality to establish the factory.
According to the government, this project is estimated to represent an investment of BGN 240 million ($136.5 million). Under the terms of the MoU, the Bulgarian government will allocate 160,000 m2 of land to the company for phase I of the project. Between 2026 and 2029, it will provide close to BGN 66 million ($37.5 million) to the subsidiary as a cash contribution in the form of a grant.
The company will be seeking additional incentives from the Bulgarian government and the European Union (EU).
With this memorandum, the Bulgarian Council of Ministers has designated it as a priority investment project and has created an interdepartmental working group to ensure institutional support for its implementation.
The priority status to Smart Solar’s proposed facility has been granted under the country’s Investment Promotion Act implemented by the Ministry of Innovation and Growth. Earlier this year, in March 2024, the ministry awarded a Class A certificate to Solar Panel Ltd for its plans to start a 200 MW solar module production factory in the country (see Solar Panel’s PV Module Manufacturing In Bulgaria).
The European solar manufacturing industry has been struggling to take off with slower implementation of a supportive regulatory framework, and the lack of demand for their products that are expensive compared to mass-produced Chinese ones.
Even though there have been recent announcements for newer factories in the continent, the news of companies going insolvent or shutting down their manufacturing operations is also not rare (see Chinese Partnership For GW-Scale Heterojunction Production In Italy and ‘Market Collapse’ Hitting European PV Companies Hard).
In the meanwhile, the US with its financially attractive Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has been attracting European solar PV manufacturers to set up shop there, including Meyer Burger and NorSun (see NorSun Bags Multi-Year US-Made Silicon Wafers Contract With Heliene).
Speaking of the US solar manufacturing market, TaiyangNews has teamed up with EUPD Research and RE+ to discuss the subject of competitive solar PV manufacturing in the country with leading stakeholders in the industry. The 1-day Solar Made in USA Conference will be held in Anaheim, California on September 9, 2024. Registrations for the conference can be done here.
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