Renewable

June 16 (Renewables Now) - Meyer Burger Technology AG (SWX:MBTN) today made more announcements related to its expansion plans and said it has closed debt financing agreements for EUR 185 million (USD 224m).

The solar panel manufacturing newcomer, which opened a 400-MW cell factory in Thalheim and a 400-MW module assembly plant in Freiberg last month, is speeding up its capacity expansion plans. It said that it no longer intends to sell heterojunction (HJT) solar cells to third parties and instead will process its entire cell output into modules.

Meyer Burger plans to increase the production capacity of its existing module factory to 1 GW by the end of 2022 and open a second one next year with an initial capacity of 400 MW. As already announced, the existing cell factory will also be expanded to 1.4 GW. The debt financing will be channelled into these projects.

The company is currently looking for a site for the second module production facility, which is to be designed to make modules for utility-scale projects while retaining the capability to manufacture panels for rooftop installations. Next year, Meyer Burger prepares to launch glass-foil and bifacial glass-glass modules with an output of up to 570 W and maximum efficiency of 22.9%.

Meyer Burger aims to reach 5 GW of production capacity for both cells and modules by 2026 and 7 GW by 2027. In April, it presented its first rooftop products and is working to ship the first modules in July.

As per the newly-secured financing, it consists of a EUR-125-million loan due in 2027, agreed with a syndicate led by Ostsaechsische Sparkasse Dresden, and a factoring agreement for EUR 60 million with a German specialist bank for working capital finance.

The revised strategy and accelerated schedule also bring new financial projections. More details are available in the table below.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.212)

(CHF 1.0 = USD 1.112/EUR 0.918)