SunPower has formed a joint venture (JV) with Chinese entities Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor, Sichuan Development Holding, Leshan Electric Power and Tianjin Tsinlien Investment Holding for owning and developing at least 3GW of solar PV plants in China.
The JV, named Sichuan Shengtian New Energy Development, plans to set up the solar facilities within the Sichuan province with the use of low-concentration photovoltaic (LCPV) SunPower C7 Tracker (C7) technology.
SunPower has a 4.6% stake in the JV and will invest up to $20m for the solar power plants.
This is the second JV for the firm in China, the first being the Huaxia CPV Power formed in December 2012.
The newly-formed JV is awaiting government approval, with the initial LCPV deployment likely to start from 2015.
“In a short period of time, SunPower has begun to tap into China’s tremendous, growing market, where our leading technology is well-suited to the environment.”
SunPower president and CEO Tom Werner said: “In a short period of time, SunPower has begun to tap into China’s tremendous, growing market, where our leading technology is well-suited to the environment and is in demand.
“Once again, this new joint venture brings together the strength and expertise of each partner to achieve a common goal of providing clean solar energy to the people of China. With an expected pipeline of more than three gigawatts, we see tremendous opportunity for SunPower and our partners.”
Tianjin Zhonghuan Electronic and Information general manager QuDefu said: “Today, our five partners together realized the dream of investing in environmentally-friendly, resource-saving, high efficiency PV power plant projects.
“I believe that with each partner’s strong collaboration, continuous effort, efficient planning, effective execution, as well as our common vision of providing reliable and highly efficient renewable energy projects, we can realize our common goal to build high quality PV projects and boost local economy.”
