SunEdison and Adani are investing $4B in new Indian Solar Panel manufacturing facility
Construction on what will be India’s largest PV manufacturing facility in Mundra, Gujarat, will get underway soon. SunEdison and Adani Enterprises signed a memorandum establishing a joint venture aimed at building the largest vertically integrated solar photovoltaic manufacturing facility in India. The project will be funded with up to $4 billion. The companies plan to start construction later this year after studies are conducted.
When completed the plant will be one of the world’s largest PV manufacturing companies. Forbes reported that it will produce 7.5 gigawatts of PV modules annually when fully operational. Currently the world’s largest PV manufacturer, Trina Solar, produced 3.4 gigawatts of solar panels last year.
"We are proud to partner with Adani Enterprises to build the largest solar photovoltaic manufacturing facility in India. This facility will create ultra-low cost solar panels that will enable us to produce electricity so cost effectively it can compete head to head, unsubsidized and without incentives, with fossil fuels," said Ahmad Chatila, President and Chief Executive Officer of SunEdison. "By pairing SunEdison's solar technology expertise with Adani's extensive experience in the creation of infrastructure, we will be able to transform the region into a solar production powerhouse, creating 4,500 direct jobs and over 15,000 indirect jobs in the process.”
The plant is aimed at feeding the quickly growing solar market in India, which has plans of installing 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2022. "India has embarked on an ambitious program to become a world leader in power generation from renewable technologies, and sees solar as a key part in realizing that goal," said Vneet S Jaain, Chief Executive Officer of Adani Power Limited, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd. "The development of the largest integrated solar manufacturing facility furthers the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign. We are happy to partner with SunEdison, a leading solar technology manufacturer to build this facility which further integrates our power – renewable business value chain and has significant socio-economic benefits."
The new facility will be constructed in Mundra, Gujarat, India, over a three year period. The facility will manufacture photovoltaic panels from raw materials. It will process silicon into crystalline silicon and will produce completed modules onsite.
The move follows some other major advances for SunEdison’s manufacturing capabilities. The company announced a new manufacturing facility in Mexico in 2013. In 2014 it announced a new technology it called zero white space (ZWS), which it said will increase it’s solar panel output by up to 15 percent while reducing overall system cost.
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