The market was rampant in China in January and February, and looks set to be this month too. Image: Richard Allaway/Flickr

Big numbers from polysilicon and cell maker Tongwei and the latest government statistics indicate the nation is in the midst of a flood of solar capacity additions at the moment.

From pv magazine

Polysilicon and solar cell maker Tongwei has estimated it will generate revenue of RMB4.9-5.2 billion (US$769-816 million) in the first three months of this year thanks to booming solar installation figures and product price rises.

The performance, which would be around six times better than the numbers posted for the same stage of last year, offer further evidence of the Chinese, early-year solar rush which the National Energy Administration last week said amounted to 10.86GW of new generation capacity having been added in January and February alone.

Manufacturing

Production output matched those impressive statistics with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology yesterday reporting the 110,000 tons of polysilicon manufactured in China in the last two months was still not sufficient to meet demand.

The nation’s solar manufacturers produced at least 40GW of wafers – of which only 5.1GW were shipped for export; 39.5GW of cells, and at least 21.9GW of solar panels, according to the ministry.

Chinese inverter makers produced around 27GW of products in January and February, the government department reported.

Solar manufacturer Jinko has announced its first wind power project win, after securing 100MW of turbine generation capacity in Urumqi City, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Jinko in September signed a strategic co-operation agreement with state-owned wind company China Longyuan Power Group to develop at least 3GW of solar and wind power generation capacity over three years.

Solar developer Xinyi Energy will boost its coffers by issuing 188 million shares to two Chinese investors, the company said yesterday. Beijing-based financier Hillhouse, and the China International Capital Corp Ltd investment bank which is also based in the capital, will sign up for the shares for HK$4.14 (US$0.53) each to raise a net HK$780 million (US$99.6 million) for the developer.

Author: Max Hall