Meyer Burger Technology AG (SWX:MBTN) on Thursday unveiled an agreement with D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) to supply the US renewables developer and owner with at least 3.75 GW and up to 5 GW of solar modules between 2024 and 2029.
Because of this major contract, the Swiss company, which turned itself from a provider of production equipment into a manufacturer of solar cells and modules, will accelerate its capacity expansion to reach 3 GW a year by mid-2024. In particular, the expansion of the Goodyear factory in the state of Arizona will be sped up so that the facility reaches 1 GW of annual capacity for utility modules to serve the DESRI contract and to have an additional 0.5 GW for the US rooftop market.
To fund the accelerated expansion, Meyer Burger is considering a capital increase of around CHF 250 million (USD 262m/EUR 258m) in the next months.
Under the binding contract, signed yesterday, DESRI has a first right of refusal to increase the supplied volume to 5 GW and to extend the deal beyond the five-year term. The US company will make a “substantial annual down payment” to allow Meyer Burger to purchase materials for production.
“Meyer Burger will produce modules engineered in Switzerland and Germany and manufactured in the US, supplying DESRI’s projects with a high-quality product and secure, transparent supply chains,” said DESRI executive chairman Bryan Martin.
Meyer Burger board chairman Franz Richter said that the deal shows the company’s high-performance heterojunction/SmartWire technology is also applicable in the solar power plant segment.
The Swiss company noted that the just enacted Inflation Reduction Act in the US provides significant support for the manufacturing of components along the solar value chain in the country.
Meyer Burger announced these developments as it reported results for the first half of 2022, including an increase in its net loss to CHF 41 million from CHF 37.2 million a year earlier which reflects its ongoing transformation. The company's EBITDA loss narrowed to CHF 24.4 million from CHF 30.9 million, while consolidated revenue increased to CHF 56.7 million from CHF 18 million, which, it said, shows its ability to sell at premium prices and pass on recent cost increases to customers.
The firm produced about 110 MW of modules in the first half and expects to produce another 210 MW-260 MW in the second half. Meyer Burger is in a process of expanding its capacity to 1.4 GW.
(CHF 1 = USD 1.049/EUR 1.032)
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Image by Meyer Burger Technology AG (www.meyerburger.com)
