LONGi Reveals Massive Expansion Plans for Production In China, Malaysia

Longi Green Energy Technology Co Ltd has announced that it has disclosed plans to build a 1-GW factory for monocrystalline solar cells in Malaysia and vouchsafed to devote around CNY 5.18 billion (USD 773m/EUR 681m) on increasing production capabilities at three locations at home.

The new manufacturing site will be opened in Kuching City, Malaysia, with its construction requiring an investment of about CNY 840 million. The move will be commenced in response to increasing demand in foreign markets and Longi’s objectives to boost its production capacity outside China.

The new factory is planned to be switched on later this year, adding to the company’s current photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturing capacity of 5.5 GW. Also in Kuching, the Chinese manufacturer already owns a 500-MW monocrystalline solar cell factory, a module assembly facility with the same capacity and a mono ingot facility of 300 MW. Back in 2016, it took possession of then-bankrupt SunEdison's silicon wafer manufacturing plant at Kuching.

Distinctly, Longi believed it plans to spend a total of CNY 5.18 billion on enhancing its monocrystalline ingot and wafer capacity at three sites in China. With an outlay of about CNY 1.75 billion, it will add an additional 6 GW at its monocrystalline ingot production facilities in Baoshan, while 6 GW will be added in Lijiang at a cost of CNY 1.94 billion. For its monocrystalline wafer production base in Chuxiong, the Chinese firm aims to spend around CNY 1.49 billion on expanding it by a further 10 GW. This will be the first of the domestic expansion projects to come online, scheduled for March 2020, while the ones in Lijiang and Baoshan are expected to be completed by May and July in the same year, respectively.