Solar module and cell maker United Renewable Energy Co (URE, 聯合再生) plans to lay off more than 100 workers and retire outdated manufacturing equipment in an effort to improve operational efficiency.
The 10 percent job cuts come amid shrinking domestic demand for passivated-emitter-and-rear cells (PERC), the company said yesterday. It has a total of 1,095 employees.
The company plans to retire the production lines for less-advanced solar cells in Miaoli County’s Jhunan Township (竹南) and focus on new-generation TOPCon solar wafers.
Photo: Chang Hui-wen, Taipei Times
The PERC capacity made up about half of the company’s total capacity of 830 megawatts in Taiwan. The other half is for TOPCon solar wafers, for which the company started ramping up volume production in the fourth quarter last year, it said.
“We have submitted the plan to related authorities with an aim to strengthen the company’s operations,” URE deputy spokesperson Kris Chen (陳怡真) said by telephone.
URE shut down its solar cell factory in Thailand in the second half of last year after the US announced it was imposing anti-dumping tariffs on solar imports from four Southeast Asian nations, including Thailand.
The company reported a net loss of NT$179.06 million (US$5.98 million) in the first quarter of this year, compared with a loss of NT$283.12 million during the same period last year. It has been posting losses since the first quarter of 2023.
First-quarter revenue sank about 34 percent year-on-year to NT$978.86 million, attributable to sagging demand in Taiwan, which made up 56 percent of the company’s total revenue.
“URE aims to transform itself into an energy solution provider beyond a supplier of solar products and an operator of solar engineering, procurement and construction [EPC]. We will also provide solar power plant maintenance services and energy storage,” URE chief financial officer Pan Lay-lay (潘蕾蕾) told investors last week.
The company expects two new EPC projects to commence later this year — a fisheries solar project in Tainan and a ground-mount solar project in Taichung, Pan said.
The installed solar capacity totaling 20 megawatts would generate about NT$2 billion in revenue, she said.
Solar EPC project operators usually receive stable and predictable income based on 20-year power purchase agreements as they are guaranteed to sell the generated electricity at a fixed price.
URE plans to launch its first solar energy storage and management solutions for enterprises to address the widening gap between peak and off-peak electricity rates.
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