United Kingdom-based solar module manufacturer, Awendio Solaris, has announced plans to build a multi-gigawatt TOPCon solar cell and module manufacturing facility in Canada’s Montréal-Est, Québec, with an investment of CAD1 billion (~$727.65 million).

The company targets achieving 2,500 MW of annual production in the facility’s first phase. It aims to scale this capacity up to 5,000 MW in the future.

The company plans to primarily power its operations with Québec’s hydroelectricity, supplementing it with on-site solar generation from its own projects. It is also working with the Canadian and Québec governments, and Investissement Québec, Montréal International and Hydro-Québec to set up the manufacturing facility. The National Bank of Canada will act as the company’s financial advisor.

Awendio Solaris is targeting financial close of the facility by the first quarter (Q1) of 2026 and expects to begin construction in Q2 2026, with volume production beginning in 2028.

The company has tied up with Germany-based integrated solar manufacturing engineering solutions provider RCT Solutions and Canada-based engineering services company AtkinsRéalis for the project.

Awendio Solaris is planning to develop an end-to-end North American supply chain, aiming to leverage Québec’s quartz, metallurgic silicon, and green aluminum deposits. The supply chain is planned to encompass silicon production in North America through conversion to polysilicon in the U.S.’s Michigan to final cell manufacturing and module assembly in Québec.

It has established research and development partnerships with Université de Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal, and Université de Sherbrooke.

Awendio said it also plans to develop the Solar Open-Lab for Applied Research Centre, a proposed non-profit innovation hub that will feature experimental solar production lines.

In July this year, Nagpur-based WorldOne Energies announced plans to establish a 1 GW solar module manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada.

Recently, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal initiated an interim review of its March 25, 2021, order on dumping and subsidy duties on specific solar components from China, at the request of the Canada-based solar solutions company, Kings Solar Solutions.