Chinese manufacturer GCL System Integration Technology is planning to invest nearly ¥2 billion (~$292 million) to build a high-efficiency solar module facility with an annual capacity of 12 GW.

The project will be financed from a mix of funds secured from commissions for building government projects, self-raised funds, loans from financial institutions, or project industry funds.

It will be built in the Funing Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu province and is expected to increase the company’s competitiveness and profitability.

The project is expected to go into operation before October 30, 2023.

The company said the prices of raw materials in the upstream photovoltaic industry chain have gradually returned to a fair level from the fourth quarter of last year thereby boosting demand for solar modules and raising the earnings of the Chinese manufacturers.

The project will have a building area of 120,000 sqm. The facility includes both the solar module facility and ancillary living space.

In December 2022, the company announced a non-public stock offering plan to raise up to ¥6 billion (~$870 million) which will be used for Wuhu GCL 20 GW (Phase II 10GW) high-efficiency solar cells manufacturing projects, Xuzhou GCL 10 GWh smart energy storage system project, and supplementary working capital.

China installed 87.41 GW of solar capacity in 2022, marking an increase of 60.3% compared with the previous year, according to the numbers revealed by the National Energy Administration.

However, the country failed to achieve its projected target of 108 GW of solar installation for 2022.

The reasons for the slippage could be partially attributed to Covid-19 lockdowns and the phasing out of the subsidy regime that made 2022 the first year without incentives for the country’s solar sector.

The country’s cumulative solar installations touched 393 GW at the end of the calendar year 2022, an increase of nearly 28% year-over-year (YoY).

China’s total installed power capacity stood at 2.6 TW at the end of 2022, an increase of 7.8% YoY.

Recently, in a move that could significantly hamper the energy transition goals globally, China is contemplating restricting exports of critical technology related to solar PV components. If implemented, local manufacturers would be restricted from exporting the technology over which China has a stranglehold.