MEDIA RELEASE PR39930
Major Investments Drive Growth of German Solar Industry
BERLIN, Germany, June 9/PRNewswire-AsiaNet/--
The rapid growth of the photovoltaic industry (PV) in Germany continues.
Several solar companies, namely industry giants First Solar, Avancis,
SolarWorld and Juwi, have announced new investments in Germany. First Solar
is even doubling its production capacity in the country. These developments
underscore the industry's strength and add a vote of confidence for future
market growth. First Solar's announcement marks the largest foreign
investment in Germany's renewable energies industry this year.
US-based First Solar, the world's largest manufacturer of thin
film solar modules, announced yesterday an investment of over USD 200 million
in its facility in Frankfurt (Oder) in Eastern Germany. The investment will
make it the largest thin-film plant in Europe and boost annual production
capacity to 446 MW. Creating several hundred jobs, the new investment serves
to meet ongoing demand increases in Germany and across Europe. For its
contribution to economic development the investment has drawn incentives from
the federal and regional governments amounting to approximately EUR 30
million. Germany Trade & Invest supported First Solar with its initial
investment in Germany.
First Solar CEO Robert Gillette confirms Germany's
attractiveness as a production location: "Our plant in Frankfurt is already
one of the most efficient worldwide, and there are numerous well trained
workers in the region."
This week France-based Saint-Gobain subsidiary Avancis
announced its investment in a new plant in the Eastern German city of Torgau.
The new facility will be Avancis' second German plant manufacturing thin-film
CIGS (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Selenide) photovoltaic panels. It will be built
close to the first Avancis industrial site. The new plant will have an annual
production output of 100 MW. With a surface area of 25,000msquared, the site
should come on stream by the first quarter of 2012.
German Solar Companies Investing As Well
German-based solar companies SolarWorld and Juwi have also
announced new investments in Germany recently. SolarWorld, one of the largest
fully integrated producers in the solar industry reported this week a EUR 350
million investment in a new production plant in the eastern German city of
Freiberg. This facility will increase SolarWorld's solar wafer production
capacity to 750 MW by the end of the year and is a testament to Eastern
Germany's photovoltaic cluster, the largest in the world.
At the same time, Juwi is investing in a new facility in
Brandis, a German town near Leipzig, which will employ up to 80 new workers.
The company is one of the world's largest in planning, constructing and
operating renewable energy projects in the solar, wind and bioenergy
segments.
Installations in Germany amounted to 3.8 GWp in 2009,
accounted for more than half of all new installations worldwide. Germany is
again the world's largest PV market and continues to be an attractive
investment location for PV companies. Manufacturers in Germany not only have
access to a large and growing market, they also benefit from a significant
competitive advantage through a local brand presence and reputation for high
quality products. Germany's solar industry also benefits from the highest
density of R&D institutes in the industry. At the same time, the country
boasts a well established industrial infrastructure, large equipment supplier
base, and qualified and experienced workforce.
Germany Trade & Invest is the foreign trade and inward
investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The
organization advises foreign companies looking to expand their business
activities in the German market. It provides information on foreign trade to
German companies that seek to enter foreign markets.
Germany Trade & Invest
Eva Henkel
Email: eva.henkel@gtai.com
T: +49(0)30-200099-173
F: +49(0)30-200099-111
Source: news aktuell GmbH
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