ReneSola, a solar module manufacturer, announced that it is entering into a joint venture with the Zhongnan Industry, a subsidiary of Zhongnan Holding Group, to develop a solar PV manufacturing facility in Nantong, located in China’s Jiangsu Province.

Both of these companies are headquartered in China. The new manufacturing facility with an annual capacity of 3 GW is expected to start its operation by the end of 2020. The facility will emphasize on the commercialization of new solar PV module technologies.

The company added that the unit would add 3 GW of additional capacity to ReneSola’s existing 3.65 GW solar PV manufacturing portfolio. ReneSola says it has supplied over 20 GW of solar modules to solar developers across the world.

“The new manufacturing facility will be focussing on producing high rating modules based on 166 mm and 182 mm wafer size in the first phase. These solar photovoltaic modules will be rated around 450W and 550W, respectively. The factory will also focus on manufacturing 600W modules based on 210 mm wafers in the second phase,” said Krishan Kumar Sharma, Vice President-South Asia at ReneSola.

“This new venture will add more value to our supply chain and will make the ReneSola modules more accessible and affordable for the customers worldwide and will further support our expansion plans in the new global market,” said Sky Wang, Chief Executive Officer of ReneSola.

“China is the world’s largest PV module manufacturing center with huge potential. We hope to achieve a win-win situation through all-round cooperation with ReneSola,” said Zheng Lei, Chief Executive Officer of the Zhongnan Industry.

In April 2020, the solar module manufacturer signed a $100 million (~₹7.32 billion) strategic investment agreement with the Zhongnan Industry. According to the agreement, Zhongnan Industry would invest $100 million (~₹7.32 billion) to enhance ReneSola’s solar module manufacturing supply chain.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Market Leaderboard 2020, ReneSola was one of the top module suppliers with cumulative shipments of over 2 GW of solar modules to India as of December 2019.

Mercom earlier reported that ReneSola Power had raised €10.64 million (~$12 million) through bridge funding from Eiffel Energy Transition Fund to construct 19 MW of solar projects in Poland. The funds would be used to expand its project development and execution efforts in Hungary and Poland, according to the company’s statement.