Hanwha SolarOne lauds growing demand in Japan, S Africa

Oct 24, 2013 - China-based Hanwha SolarOne Co Ltd (NASDAQ:HSOL) said Wednesday that 28% of its solar module shipments in 2013 had come from Japan and 19% from South Africa.

The solar equipment maker added that those two fast-growing markets had helped its boost its solar module shipments globally to 4 GW. Overall, the company is delivering modules to 35 countries.

In Japan, Hanwha SolarOne took advantage of the feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for renewables which the government launched last summer to encourage investment in the segment following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. In South Africa, it benefited from the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, which targets 3,725 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2016.

Hanwha SolarOne, a unit of South Korean Hanwha Goup, said that it is also trying to strengthen its operations in the US where in the past 12 months it supplied solar modules to new clients among which are Black & Veatch, Constellation Energy (NYSE:CEG), REC Solar Inc, Scatec Solar, SolarCity (NASDAQ:SCTY), SolarUniverse and Strata Solar. Next year it plans to launch more product offerings to the US market.

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