Local solar material provider Gigasolar Materials Corp (碩禾) yesterday said it would invest ￥5 billion (US$51 million) in building a ground mount solar system in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, expanding its solar power plant business overseas.
The ground mount solar system will have 17 megawatts in annual capacity, which will generate 20 million units of electricity a year for 5,000 households, Gigasolar said in a statement.
The solar power system is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
Gigasolar also signed an agreement with Japanese construction company Tsuboi Corp to jointly build the system via its Japanese subsidiary.
The Taiwanese solar conductive paste supplier operates several solar power plants in Taiwan with capacity totaling about 5 megawatts.
Gigasolar said it expected the Fukushima solar power system to make ￥800 million in revenue a year after completion as it has received the approval from Japan’s local government to sell the power to the government at ￥42 per unit, the statement said.
Market researcher NPD Solarbuzz said record photovoltaic (PV) demand from China and Japan would provide a turning point for the solar industry this year.
PV demand from China and Japan during the second half of this year is expected to reach 9 gigawatts, representing an annual 70 percent, NPD Solarbuzz said in a report last week.
Japan is the most active solar market this year, with total installations expected to grow 1.5 times this year from last year.
Gigasolar said it is in talks with local banks to help finance the construction.
The company has more than NT$1 billion (US$334 million) in cash. In the first six months, the company made a profit of NT$321 million, or NT$6.35 per share.
Gigasolar said it will continue to scout for potential markets to build solar power plants overseas and several projects are under review.
Gigasolar rallied 4.58 percent to NT$240 yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX’s 1.19 percent gain.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
RSS