(Yicai Global) Jan. 21 -- Shares of solar equipment manufacturer Wuxi Shangji Automation soared by the exchange-imposed daily limit today on the news that its unit has penned a CNY4.1 billion (USD634.4 million) supply contract with photovoltaic power station developer Chint Solar.

Shangji Automation [SHA:603185] surged by 10 percent to close a CNY160.58 (USD24.84). The Wuxi, southeastern Jiangsu province-based firm’s stock price as gained almost eight-fold since the beginning of last year.

Hongyuan New Materials will supply Hangzhou-based Chint Solar and six affiliates with an estimated 882 million monocrystalline silicon wafers, a raw material used in solar cells, over the next three years, Shangji Automation said yesterday.

At today’s market price, this comes to a value of CNY4.1 billion, it said. This year Hongyuan will ship around 210 million pieces, and deliveries for next year and 2023 have been temporarily set at 336 million. At the end of each year, both parties will determine the actual order amount and unit price for the year to come, it added.

Chint Solar, also known as Astroenergy, has constructed more than 6,000 megawatts of PV power stations worldwide to date.

The demand for green energy has boosted orders at PV raw material makers such as Shangji Automation. The firm signed another three-year sales contract for its wafers last November worth CNY11.3 billion (USD1.8 billion).

Editor: Kim Taylor