Dive Brief:
- Toyo Solar plans to build a 2-gigawatt solar PV module and 2GW cell plant facility in the U.S., with construction scheduled for the fourth quarter, according to a securities filing.
- The Japan-based company plans to raise $100 million for the projects and benefit from inflation-reducing tax benefits, according to its earnings. presentation.
- The rapid expansion of manufacturing in the US comes as the company faces global trade inquiries for its Vietnam facility, according to its first-half report. release of earnings.
Diving knowledge:
Toyo Solar has recently gone public in the US on July 2 after completing the combination of Vietnam Sunergy Cell Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyo, and Blue World Acquisition Corp.
The company began operations at its first manufacturing facility in Vietnam in October 2023 and has delivered 1.3 GW of solar cells to customers to date. The second phase of construction will begin at the end of the year, according to the securities filing.
However, the US expansion comes after foreign trade headwinds in the solar industry. By early 2024, annual solar module shipments were expected to reach 2.5 GW based on demand from solar service companies, mainly in the US, the company said in a statement.
Due to a US trade investigation involving solar manufacturers located in Southeast Asia, including Toyo Solar’s facilities in Vietnam, the company and its major customers decided to reduce shipment volumes until publish the preliminary results of the investigation, which is expected between September and November. As a result, Toyo Solar expects to deliver more than 1.9 GW of orders for the entire year 2024, according to the statement.
In June, the International Trade Commission advanced a fee request of seven US solar manufacturers, including Qcells and First Solar, asking the agency to impose new anti-dumping and countervailing duties on some solar cell imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
If implemented, the tariffs would increase the cost of the Southeast Asian all-integrated module from 24 cents per watt to 40 cents per watt, Clean Energy Associates report found.
“To address this situation, we are accelerating plans to increase our manufacturing presence in the United States while increasing shipments to customers based in India, the Middle East and other markets,” Toyo’s statement said. “Our strategy to build an integrated value chain in North America to serve our North American customers remains unchanged, and we will continue to observe and adapt to dynamic industry conditions.”
