Trina Solar has signed an agreement with the Yancheng Economic Development Zone, Jiangsu Province, China to build an 8.5GW advanced solar cell plant at a cost of approximately RMB 3.0 billion (USD460 million). The agreement with the Jiangsu Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee is for Trina Solar’s planned expansions of its Vertex 210mm large-area module production.
This is the third official announcement of large-area cell capacity expansions in the second half of 2020, after its IPO. Trina Solar’s total solar cell capacity expansion announcement since its IPO total 18 GW.
On July 29, Trina Solar’s Yiwu production base started production of 4GW modules for the first phase. The groundbreaking ceremony for the second phase of 4GW modules was held on the same day. In addition to Yiwu, Trina Solar has also built a Vertex Super Factory in Suqian. Suqian 210mm-module plant has a capacity of 12GW, where the first and second phases are now operating.
The company’s strategic plan is to have a total of 50GW of module assembly production capacity by the end of 2021, a year ahead of its previously announced strategy. While Trina Solar did not disclose the timelines for the construction and ramp of the latest Yancheng Vertex cell project, this announcement is in line with its 2021 expansion plans. The company had earlier announced plans to reach 21.7GW of high-efficiency Vertex cell capacity by the end of 2022.
