Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), a leading manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, announced the groundbreaking of a new PV cell production facility in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China.
Suntech intends to complete the facility with a PV cell production capacity of 300 megawatts (MW) by the end of 2009. The new production site will facilitate Suntech’s capacity expansion plans to reach 1.4GW by year end 2009 and 2 gigawatts (GW) by year end 2010.
Located in Yangzhou, the PV cell production facility is close to Suntech’s strategic silicon supply partner, Shunda Holdings Co. Ltd., and within two hours drive of Suntech’s Wuxi headquarters. Proximity to Shunda’s polysilicon plant will enable Suntech to realize production and operational synergies that are expected to accelerate Suntech’s cost reduction initiatives and path to grid parity.
Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s Chairman and CEO, said, "The Yangzhou facility will provide Suntech with room to meet our capacity expansion target of 2GW by year end 2010 and enable us to meet the world’s burgeoning demand for solar energy."
In May 2008, Suntech announced a thirteen-year silicon wafer supply agreement with a subsidiary of Shunda Holdings Co. Ltd. Under the terms of the supply agreement, Shunda will supply Suntech specified annual volumes of silicon wafers with a total volume of approximately 7GW from 2008 to 2020.
Dr. Shi continued, "The co-location with Shunda’s polysilicon plant and wafering facilities will enable a virtual integration of the solar value chain, from polysilicon to solar panel, supporting our move to providing cost effective solar solutions."
About Suntech
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is a leading solar energy company as measured by both production output and capacity of solar cells and modules. Suntech designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of solar products for electric power applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility sectors. Suntech offers one of the broadest ranges of BIPV products under the MSK Solar Design Line(TM).
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