Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer supplier, yesterday said it seeks government funding to form a NT$2 billion (US$65.29 million) wafer-slicing venture with local peers for an improved cost structure amid volatility in the solar market.
“We hope to leverage the strength of the alliance to enhance our competitiveness,” Green Energy president Swean Lin (林士源) told reporters. “The venture will focus on providing advanced diamond-wire wafer-cutting technology.”
Advanced wafer-cutting technology using diamond wires with a diameter of 50mm would increase output by 13 to 15 percent and therefore reduce the unit cost, compared with existing technologies that use wires with a diameter of 65mm, Lin said.
“We do not have to invest in the same technology and equipment,” Lin added.
Green Energy plans to increase production of wafers using the advanced slicing technology in September, he said.
Based on Lin’s plan, the company aims to form a venture with two other local solar wafer manufacturers, with an initial investment of NT$1 billion to NT$2 billion.
Lin hopes the National Development Fund will purchase a 40 percent stake in the venture.
The move comes after three solar cell makers — Neo Solar Power Energy Corp (新日光能源), Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶能源) and Solartech Energy Corp (昇陽光電) — earlier this year secured a much-needed investment of NT$4.5 billion from the fund and state-controlled Yao Hua Glass Co (耀華玻璃) to proceed with restructuring and a three-way merger.
Lin urged the government to raise feed-in tariffs by 3 percent to encourage the adoption of locally made, high-quality solar wafers, solar cells and solar modules, adding that such incentives would boost local companies’ sales.
Green Energy has seen an uptick in orders as supply chain inventories have been reduced substantially, Lin said, adding that seasonal demand also helps increase orders and decrease a continual drop in prices.
The utilization rate at the company’s solar wafer fab is expected to rebound from 60 percent this month to 70 or 80 percent next month, while usage at its solar module fab is expected to increase from 80 percent this month, he said.
Green Energy’s overall utilization rate last month plunged below 50 percent as Beijing scaled down solar subsidies and Chinese competitors dumped products on the local market, the company said.
Green Energy has yet to release its financial results for last quarter. The firm posted losses of NT$183 million for the first quarter, after losing NT$592 million last year.
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