(Yicai Global) Dec. 27 -- Shares of Drinda Automotive Trim closed lower after the Chinese firm, which is shifting into the solar energy business from making car interiors, said a unit plans to invest CNY11.2 billion (USD1.8 billion) expanding its solar cell production capacity.

Drinda [SHE: 002865] finished down 4.7 percent today at CNY69.80 (USD10.95), after jumping 6.9 percent at the open to hit an all-time high of CNY78.30. The benchmark Shenzhen Component Index ended nearly flat.

Jietai New Energy Technology signed a deal with an economic development zone in Lai’an county, Anhui province, to build a high-efficiency solar cell project with annual capacity of 16 gigawatts in two phases, Hainan-based Drinda said after the market closed on Dec. 24.

The first phase will build 8 GW of annual capacity and should come online six to eight months after construction work starts. No schedule was given for the second phase.

Shangrao-based Jietai New Energy had annual production capacity of 8.5 GW at the end of last year, according to its website.

The new plant’s average output is expected to be no less than 8 GW in the first five years after the first phase goes into full production, with annual output worth at least CNY9 billion (USD1.4 billion) in the first two years based on current market prices, Drinda said.

The plant buildings and other supporting facilities will be funded and built by the management committee of the economic development zone, and will be leased to project developers for free within the first six years after coming on stream, it added.

Drinda’s stock has surged almost 270 percent since announcing in late June that it would spend CNY1.4 billion (USD219.8 million) for a 51 percent stake in Jietai New Energy to enter the solar photovoltaic cell industry.

Editor: Peter Thomas