CHANGZHOU, CHINA: Trina Solar Ltd (TSL), a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic (PV) products from the production of ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of PV modules, has obtained a five-year syndicated loan facility to support its East Campus capacity expansion project.
The size of the loan facility is approximately $304 million, and the loan is denominated in both US dollars and Renminbi. The loan bears a floating interest rate consisting of a premium over LIBOR and the basic rate of the People's Bank of China for the respective US dollar and Renminbi portions of the loan.
The lenders consist of a syndicate of five domestic banks led by the Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China, and the loan will be used to finance the Company's 500 MW capacity expansion project to be completed over the next three years.
The first drawdown is expected to occur in September 2009 in accordance with the schedule agreed upon with the lenders. The loan proceeds will be used to fund the Company's capital expenditure targets for the second half of 2009 and will also be immediately used to repay related outstanding loans of approximately $80 million due on June 30, 2010.
"We are very pleased to finalize this important financing to drive this next important phase of our company's advancement," said Jifan Gao, Chairman and CEO of Trina Solar. "The syndicated loan facility combined with the proceeds from our recent follow-on offering will allow us to improve our long-term capital resources as we carry out our market-driven expansion plan and elevate our manufacturing technology platform."
Showing posts with label Chinese solar PV industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chinese solar PV industry. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Industry-wide solar crisis coming next year –- Thank you China!
NEW TRIPOLI, USA: The solar industry is at a critical stage and 50 percent of the existing solar manufacturers may not survive 2010 according to the report: Opportunities in The Solar Market For Crystalline and Thin Film Solar Cells, published by The Information Network.
“I wrote only a month ago that massive inventory buildup and huge overcapacity were having a serious impact on the solar panel industry and its manufacturers,” noted Dr. Robert Castellano, president of The Information Network. “To reiterate, inventory is averaging 122 days in 2009 versus 71 days in 2008. Capacity utilization (amount of production capacity actually produced) dropped to 27.9 percent in 2009 from 48 percent in 2008.”
For 2010, I “cautiously” anticipated that no new additional capacity will be brought on board, maintaining 2009 levels of 17,551 MW. This would bring capacity utilization to 35.4 percent and reduce inventory to 96 days on average for all of 2010. That ideal scenario is represented in the table below.
Source: The Information Network
If solar manufactures went ahead and installed all the capacity planned for 2010, it would even worsen the outcome of the solar industry –- the utilization would decrease further to 26.8 percent and days of inventory would increase to 127 days, as shown in the table.
Now, I am hearing that small solar panel manufacturers in China are planning to bring an additional 1 GW of panels to the market by the end of 2009, which we have learned based on manufacturing equipment purchases. While it represents an increase of less than 5 percent of the planned capacity, there are several implications.
1. China’s solar panel manufacturers, exasperating the situation by adding more capacity, are already dropping prices to $1.80 per watt for polysilicon-based products, which is lower than the $1.85 level we projected back in March for the end of 2009. By way of comparison, the average selling price in Q3 2008 was $4.05 per watt.
2. Because of economies of scale, whereby the more solar panels manufactured, the lower the cost to make them, other manufacturers will increase capacity to their planned 2010 levels in order to compete against the Chinese. We will now reach the last column in the table –- 25.7 percent capacity utilization and 133 days inventory.
3. Average selling prices could drop below $1 per watt in 2010 and $0.50 in 2011.
4. As many as 50 percent of the more than 200 solar manufacturers, mired in red ink with current selling prices above $2.00 per watt, may not survive.
“I wrote only a month ago that massive inventory buildup and huge overcapacity were having a serious impact on the solar panel industry and its manufacturers,” noted Dr. Robert Castellano, president of The Information Network. “To reiterate, inventory is averaging 122 days in 2009 versus 71 days in 2008. Capacity utilization (amount of production capacity actually produced) dropped to 27.9 percent in 2009 from 48 percent in 2008.”
For 2010, I “cautiously” anticipated that no new additional capacity will be brought on board, maintaining 2009 levels of 17,551 MW. This would bring capacity utilization to 35.4 percent and reduce inventory to 96 days on average for all of 2010. That ideal scenario is represented in the table below.
Source: The Information NetworkIf solar manufactures went ahead and installed all the capacity planned for 2010, it would even worsen the outcome of the solar industry –- the utilization would decrease further to 26.8 percent and days of inventory would increase to 127 days, as shown in the table.
Now, I am hearing that small solar panel manufacturers in China are planning to bring an additional 1 GW of panels to the market by the end of 2009, which we have learned based on manufacturing equipment purchases. While it represents an increase of less than 5 percent of the planned capacity, there are several implications.
1. China’s solar panel manufacturers, exasperating the situation by adding more capacity, are already dropping prices to $1.80 per watt for polysilicon-based products, which is lower than the $1.85 level we projected back in March for the end of 2009. By way of comparison, the average selling price in Q3 2008 was $4.05 per watt.
2. Because of economies of scale, whereby the more solar panels manufactured, the lower the cost to make them, other manufacturers will increase capacity to their planned 2010 levels in order to compete against the Chinese. We will now reach the last column in the table –- 25.7 percent capacity utilization and 133 days inventory.
3. Average selling prices could drop below $1 per watt in 2010 and $0.50 in 2011.
4. As many as 50 percent of the more than 200 solar manufacturers, mired in red ink with current selling prices above $2.00 per watt, may not survive.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
China solar industry leadership summit in Qinghai, Oct. 22-23
SHANGHAI, CHINA: According to the European JRC forecasts, solar power will supply more than 10 percent of electricity in the world by 2030, and it will account for 20 percent of total energy consumption by 2050; solar power energy is playing a leading role in the structure.
The application of PV technology is expecting a great development opportunity as the price of silicon raw material declined sharply recently. Under such circumstance, China Solar Industry Power Leadership Summit will be organized by Qinghai Government / Xining PV Industry Association / Inner Mongolia Renewable Energy Association/ CBI EVENTS on Oct.22nd -23rd, Qinghai, China.
This summit will focus on the national and regional subsidies and support policies, as well as the influential grid-connected PV power generation projects, and will also discuss the tendency of worldwide solar electric development and business opportunity in China.
Meanwhile, this annual event will anticipate the opportunities and challenges of global solar energy development in 2010, explore the market prospect and leading technologies of solar electric specially and expect the more effective investing and financing market.
China National-wide grid-connected PV projects include (but are not limited to):
* Dunhuang 10MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Shilin 166MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Huangshi 30MW BIPV project.
* Ge’ermu 200MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Hangjin’qi 30MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Azuoqi 30MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Qinghai 10MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Qinghai 40MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Qaidam Basin 1GW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Gansu 100MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Jiangsu 1MW BIPV project.
The application of PV technology is expecting a great development opportunity as the price of silicon raw material declined sharply recently. Under such circumstance, China Solar Industry Power Leadership Summit will be organized by Qinghai Government / Xining PV Industry Association / Inner Mongolia Renewable Energy Association/ CBI EVENTS on Oct.22nd -23rd, Qinghai, China.
This summit will focus on the national and regional subsidies and support policies, as well as the influential grid-connected PV power generation projects, and will also discuss the tendency of worldwide solar electric development and business opportunity in China.
Meanwhile, this annual event will anticipate the opportunities and challenges of global solar energy development in 2010, explore the market prospect and leading technologies of solar electric specially and expect the more effective investing and financing market.
China National-wide grid-connected PV projects include (but are not limited to):
* Dunhuang 10MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Shilin 166MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Huangshi 30MW BIPV project.
* Ge’ermu 200MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Hangjin’qi 30MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Azuoqi 30MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Qinghai 10MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Qinghai 40MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Qaidam Basin 1GW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Gansu 100MW grid-connected PV power generation project.
* Jiangsu 1MW BIPV project.
Friday, May 29, 2009
SEMI PV Group recommendations for China PV policy roadmap
SHANGHAI, CHINA: The SEMI PV Group announced the availability for “China’s Solar Future,” a preliminary report containing specific recommendations for a China photovoltaic (PV) policy roadmap.
As the world’s fastest growing developing country, China faces a rapidly increasing demand for energy and the country has also been building a massive PV industry representing all facets of the supply chain, from polysilicon feedstock, ingots and wafers to cells and modules. Virtually all of this PV production has been exported.
The report recommends an accelerated adoption of PV generated electric power in China to reach global average level of PV power generation by 2014.
The report was prepared by the China PV Advisory Committee, organized by the PV Group, and comprised of China PV industry and academic leaders. The China PV Advisory Committee objective is to collectively define and address issues facing the region’s PV industry, and petition the China government for PV legislation, policy and financial support.
Currently, consumption of coal and other fossil fuels has a central role in China’s economy, and the region derives almost 70 percent of its energy from it. The use of fossil fuels has a negative impact on the environment in China; generating massive amounts of carbon dioxide, and according to the World Bank, by 2020, the external costs of using coal will reach 13 percent of China’s GDP.
This comes as a result of the steady increase in China’s energy demand. On the supply-side, in 2010 by some estimates, after accounting for coal, hydro, and nuclear power, there could be a 6.4 percent shortage in electrical supply, which will need to be filled by renewable energy.
“China is just now beginning to understand the global opportunities and implications of PV products and systems, and it is creating a massive PV industry representing all areas of the supply chain,” said Dan Martin, executive vice president of the SEMI PV Group. “In fact, the ramp up has been so significant that in 2007, China took the number one spot in solar cell manufacturing with a total production of over 1GW, and in 2008, the region doubled that production. It is important that China occupy a leading position in the demand for solar power, as well as contribute to global supply,”
According to the report, even with the massive solar cell production in China, the region faces tough challenges as its PV industry grows. A key issue is the major imbalance between domestic production and domestic consumption, as 98 percent of China’s PV products are shipped to overseas markets.
Other significant challenges include China’s lack of world-class production technology for high-purity silicon and Chinese PV industry reliance on imported technology and equipment, as well as a lack of sufficient funds for R&D.
As the world’s fastest growing developing country, China faces a rapidly increasing demand for energy and the country has also been building a massive PV industry representing all facets of the supply chain, from polysilicon feedstock, ingots and wafers to cells and modules. Virtually all of this PV production has been exported.
The report recommends an accelerated adoption of PV generated electric power in China to reach global average level of PV power generation by 2014.
The report was prepared by the China PV Advisory Committee, organized by the PV Group, and comprised of China PV industry and academic leaders. The China PV Advisory Committee objective is to collectively define and address issues facing the region’s PV industry, and petition the China government for PV legislation, policy and financial support.
Currently, consumption of coal and other fossil fuels has a central role in China’s economy, and the region derives almost 70 percent of its energy from it. The use of fossil fuels has a negative impact on the environment in China; generating massive amounts of carbon dioxide, and according to the World Bank, by 2020, the external costs of using coal will reach 13 percent of China’s GDP.
This comes as a result of the steady increase in China’s energy demand. On the supply-side, in 2010 by some estimates, after accounting for coal, hydro, and nuclear power, there could be a 6.4 percent shortage in electrical supply, which will need to be filled by renewable energy.
“China is just now beginning to understand the global opportunities and implications of PV products and systems, and it is creating a massive PV industry representing all areas of the supply chain,” said Dan Martin, executive vice president of the SEMI PV Group. “In fact, the ramp up has been so significant that in 2007, China took the number one spot in solar cell manufacturing with a total production of over 1GW, and in 2008, the region doubled that production. It is important that China occupy a leading position in the demand for solar power, as well as contribute to global supply,”
According to the report, even with the massive solar cell production in China, the region faces tough challenges as its PV industry grows. A key issue is the major imbalance between domestic production and domestic consumption, as 98 percent of China’s PV products are shipped to overseas markets.
Other significant challenges include China’s lack of world-class production technology for high-purity silicon and Chinese PV industry reliance on imported technology and equipment, as well as a lack of sufficient funds for R&D.
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