Soventix Chile SPA and JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO) today announced the establishment of a joint venture in Santiago de Chile that will develop large scale solar photovoltaic power projects in Chile.
Soventix GmbH is increasingly concentrating its efforts on implementing solar projects outside of Europe, especially in countries which show strong market potential due to high solar radiation and increasing energy costs.
Latin America is of special interest due to its high and growing energy demand. Soventix’s local subsidiary Soventix Chile SpA is developing a portfolio of projects, currently in various stages of development and implementation, which includes a pipeline of more than 250 MW. For similar market reasons, JA Solar is also strengthening its position in Latin America.
Soventix and JA Solar see clear advantages to working together, which motivated the formation of this joint venture. For JA Solar collaboration with an established project developing company can lead to a more rapid penetration of this new market. For Soventix a partnership with one of the industry’s leading module manufacturers can help in attracting capital from international investors for its projects.
The joint venture will initially cooperate on projects totaling 130 MW, all of which will use JA Solar modules.
“We are pleased to partner with a premium module manufacturer like JA Solar,” said Thomas Stetter, Chief Executive Officer of Soventix Chile SpA. “Having a technically and economically strong module supplier enables us to move rapidly into the detailed engineering stage of our projects, as well as progressing in raising capital.”
“A central element of our market entry strategy is to participate at the earliest stages of project development. This enables us to secure supply agreements early on, as well as to be influential in the project implementation and not act simply as a vendor,” said Jian Xie, President of JA Solar.
“This operation in Chile confirms our commitment to the Latin American market, since it builds on projects we have already started developing in Mexico and Panama,” added Giovanni Landi, General Manager for Project Development at JA Solar.
Both companies expect completion of the first collaborative projects in 2015.
