Hanwha Q Cells starts building 500-MW PV manufacturing base in Turkey

Solar module maker Hanwha Q Cells Co Ltd (NASDAQ:HQCL) last week announced the start of construction of a 500-MW photovoltaics (PVs) manufacturing facility in Ankara, Turkey.

The fully integrated production base for ingots, wafers, cells and modules will use Hanwha Q Cells’ proprietary Q.ANTUM solar cell technology that includes the application of a passivation layer on the solar cells’ rear side in order to boost yields, a technology known as PERC. Hanwha Q Cells, which is part of the Hanwha Group, this summer reached a 1-billion-milestone in the mass production of Q.ANTUM solar cells.

Hanwha Q Cells’ partner in the project is Kalyon Enerji Yatirimlari AS. The companies in March won a tender for a 1,000-MW solar park in Karapinar, Konya province, and the production facility will make equipment for it. Hanwha Q Cells and Kalyon Enerji will also build a solar technology research and development (R&D) facility at the site.

Building local production capacity was a condition in the Karapinar Renewable Energy Resource Area (YEKA) tender in order to stimulate investments in the domestic supply chain.

The Turkish energy ministry announced at the time of the tender that the Hanwha-Kalyon consortium had won with a bid of USD 0.0699 (EUR 0.059) per kWh. The total investment in the huge PV project is estimated at USD 1.3 billion.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.842)

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