Italy's FuturaSun to build 10-GW solar cell factory in China

Italian photovoltaic (PV) panel manufacturer FuturaSun will move into solar cell production, planning a factory in Huai'an, in the Chinese province of Jiangsu, which will eventually reach an annual capacity of 10 GW.

The company said today that on May 10 it signed a strategic agreement with the government of the city of Huai'an for the construction of the 266,000-sq-m gigafactory. The project will require an initial investment of EUR 150 million (USD 164m) and will be realised in two phases, with production expected to start in the spring of 2024.

In three years’ time, the factory will be able to produce 10 GW a year of N-type solar cells based on TOPCon technology. It will supply FuturaSun’s Chinese and Italian module gigafactories, the company said.

FuturaSun set up its first factory in Taizhou in 2020. According to its website, the plant has an annual capacity of 1 GW. The company is currently developing a second gigafactory in Suzhou and recently announced plans for a 2-GW plant in Cittadella, Italy.

The move towards vertical integration will enhance quality assurance, improve supply autonomy, and make the company better suited to respond to future technical and technological advancements, according to the announcement.

"This is an extraordinary and unprecedented project in which our Italian Group sets the goal of entering an arena that has so far been dominated by Chinese big players," said FuturaSun chief executive and co-founder Alessandro Barin.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.093)

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