Trina Solar announced a joint venture agreement with global photovoltaic giant Tongwei. The latest agreement will see Trina Solar collaborate with Tongwei subsidiary Sichuan Yongxiang, to upgrade their 210 industrial series modules that will help secure a stronger supply chain ecosystem going forward.
Gao Jifan, Chairman, Trina Solar, said, “Joint ventures and cooperation among strong players, who complement each other as well as Trina Solar and Tongwei Group do, will always create great advantages.”
The partnership will see the two enterprises work together on four key project areas. The first includes a high-purity crystalline silicon project with an annual output of 40,000 tons, as well as an ingot project expected to produce an annual output of 15GW. There will be a wafer-cutting project with an annual output of 15GW, and a high-efficiency crystalline silicon cell project, also with an annual output of 15GW. Total investment in the venture is estimated to be worth US$ 2.3 billion, with Trina Solar gaining a shareholding ratio of 35%, and the total registered capital contribution has been set at US$ 32 million.
Wu Qun, secretary of the board of directors of Trina Solar, said these major project investments are a key part of Trina Solar’s strategic development plan going forward.
“Trina Solar and Tongwei both have outstanding advantages in their roles for the industrial chain. They have reached a consensus on 210 series modules, and this cooperation will further strengthen our strategic partnership. Through the joint efforts of all industry partners, the 210-product industry chain has matured, and is now more conducive for deeper integration.”
By the end of 2021, Trina Solar plans to have a photovoltaic module production capacity of no less than 50GW, most of which will be at 210 module production capacities. In the future, the company will continue to strengthen its scale advantages of advanced module production capacity based on large-size cells.
As part of the agreement, Trina Solar will purchase approx. 72,000 tons of polysilicon products between January 2021 and December 2023 from a number of Tongwei Group subsidiaries including Sichuan Yongxiang Polysilicon Co., Ltd., Sichuan Yongxiang New Energy Co., Ltd., Inner Mongolia Tongwei High Purity Crystal Silicon Co., Ltd., and Yunnan Tongwei High Purity Crystal Silicon Co.
Ms. Chen Ye, AVP, Procurement Supply Chain Management, Trina Solar, said, “Trina Solar and Tongwei have an excellent relationship and we are very pleased to deepen this cooperation further. This long-term procurement will facilitate timely and effective responses to changes in the market, ensuring the long-term stability of Trina Solar’s supply chain, and will provide strong support for the production capacity of Vertex Series 210 ultra-high-power modules.”
Trina Solar’s collaboration with Tongwei Group follows the signing of further procurement deals by the company in recent weeks. Earlier, Trina Solar signed a 20GW silicon wafer procurement contract with Wuxi Shangji Automation, and on November 15 signed an 85 million square meter photovoltaic glass procurement contract with Changzhou Almaden.
