Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), Taiwan’s biggest silicon solar wafer maker, said yesterday its board approved a plan to build a solar farm jointly with a Spanish partner for about NT$530 million (US$16 million) in an attempt to boost shipments and to build a better position in Europe, the world’s biggest solar market.
The project comes amid a severe industry downturn as prices fall on oversupply and shrinking demand amid the economic slump.
Taoyuan-based Green Energy is no exception. The firm yesterday posted pre-tax losses of NT$93 million for the first six months of the year, compared with pre-tax income of NT$948 million in the same period last year. Revenues declined by 24 percent to NT$3.24 billion in the first half from a year ago.
“Green Energy will book inventory losses for the second quarter as we expect some customers will fail to purchase as much as agreed to in the purchase contracts after the solar industry’s drastic changes in the first half,” Green Energy said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The solar wafer maker hoped the new investment project on a solar farm “will help us increase shipments of thin-film solar modules and wafers,” company spokeswoman Christine Chen (陳婷婷) said by telephone.
Green Energy declined to reveal the name of its partner, nor the timetable for construction of the solar farm.
The firm said it planned to finance the project by issuing global deposit receipts and through bank loans.
In a separate filing, Green Energy said its board approved a plan to build a module assembling plant in Shandong Province to build a greater presence in the Chinese market. No financial details were included in yesterday’s filing.
Shares of Green Energy rose 0.47 percent to NT$106.5 yesterday, less than the benchmark TAIEX index, which gained 1.66 percent.
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