Among the dual challenges brought about by PV overcapacity and technological iteration, some companies have reduced production and stopped work, while others have expanded production strongly.
Huaxia Energy Network learned that on the evening of February 25, Aiko announced that the company's board of directors deliberated and approved the "Proposal on Investing in the Construction of Jinan Phase I with an Annual Output of 10GW of High-efficiency Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells and Modules", with an estimated total investment of 997.8 billion yuan.
Huaxia Energy Network noted that the project was first disclosed in April 2023. At that time, Aiko Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the people of Jinan City** to invest in the construction of a 30GW high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cell project and its supporting 30GW module project, which will be constructed in three phases with a total construction period of 5 years. The total investment is expected to be 36 billion yuan, and the first phase of the 10GW cell and module project is planned to invest 12 billion yuan, and construction will start in the first half of 2024. Now it seems that the project is basically advancing according to the original schedule, and the total investment amount of the first phase of the Jinan project has been reduced.
It is worth noting that in the announcement in April last year, Aiko did not mention which technical route the cell and module production capacity was built. However, in this announcement, Aiko made it clear that "this project plans to build and produce related batteries and modules based on ABC technology".
ABC technology is relatively "niche" in the battle for the technical route of the photovoltaic industry, and at present, only Aiko continues to bet on it in the industry. The advantages of ABC photovoltaic modules are beautiful appearance and high photoelectric conversion efficiency, but there are also problems such as high technical difficulty and high cost.
Recently, Aiko has made full efforts for ABC cells and modules.
In terms of R&D, at the end of last year, Aiko increased the bifaciality of ABC modules to 70%. On February 5 this year, Aiko's latest ABC module conversion efficiency reached 2515%, which is the first time that the efficiency of crystalline silicon modules in the world, including the BC route, has crossed 25%.
In terms of the market, the sales focus of ABC modules was previously in the foreign distributed market, but at the end of last year, with the increase of bifaciality, ABC modules began to enter the centralized market. At the same time, it announced that it will focus on China in 2024.
In terms of production capacity, at the end of last year, the 10GW ABC cell and module production capacity of Aiko's Zhuhai base reached production capacity as a wholeThe 15GW ABC cell and module production capacity of Aiko Yiwu base has also entered the trial production stage. Aiko's ABC production capacity currently has a total of 25GW.
Aiko once again expanded its production capacity by 10GW of ABC in Jinan, and said that it will be put into operation in the first half of 2025, when Aiko's ABC production capacity will reach 35GW.
This is only part of Aiko's ABC capacity "ambition". Previously, Chen Gang, chairman of Aiko Co., Ltd., said that with the construction of the Jinan base, Aiko's ABC production capacity will be expanded to more than 40GW.
However, as the launch of ABC modules is still in the market cultivation period, such an aggressive capacity expansion depends on the simultaneous growth of market demand.
In addition, the expansion of ABC production capacity has increased the financial pressure on Aiko. As of the end of September 2023, the company's monetary funds announced by Aiko are only 488.2 billion yuan, and the proposed investment in the Jinan project is nearly 10 billion yuan, most of which needs to be obtained by borrowing from financial institutions.
As of the end of September 2023, the asset-liability ratio of Aiko shares has reached 698%, which is at a high level in the industry. With the advancement of the Jinan project, Aiko's asset-liability ratio may continue to increase.
As of February 26**, Aiko shares reported 1497 yuan shares, up 013%, with a total market capitalization of 2737.2 billion yuan.
*Please indicate the source, article**: Huaxia Energy Network, **hxny3060).