(Yicai) June 4 -- Drinda New Energy Technology has unveiled plans to build the Chinese photovoltaic firm’s second overseas plant for high-efficiency solar cells in Türkiye, thereby speeding up the expansion of its global footprint.

Jietai New Energy Technology will partner with Turkish company Schmid Pekintaş Energy to jointly build a plant producing 5 gigawatts of N-type high-efficiency solar cells a year, the Drinda subsidiary announced on June 2.

Founded in 2014 by Turkish construction giant Pekintaş Holding and German PV firm Schmid Group, Schmid Pekintaş is Europe's largest solar panel maker and a long-term customer of Haikou-based Drinda, Jietai noted.

Türkiye is the largest producer of solar panels in Europe, with the capacity to turn out 15 GW a year, but has to import 10 GW of solar cells annually. Drinda saw the potential and decided to build its second overseas plant in the country to meet fast-growing local demand, Jietai pointed out.

On May 8, Drinda completed a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising HKD1.4 billion (USD178.5 million). According to the prospectus, the company will use about 75 percent of the proceeds to build an overseas factory with an annual production capacity of 5 GW, equal to about 11 percent of its existing capacity and expected to come on stream next year.

Founded in 2003, Drinda started in business by making auto parts and interior trims but shifted focus to solar cells after acquiring Jietai in 2022. Last year, Suzhou-based Jietai ranked third globally by solar cell shipments and first by shipments of N-type high-efficiency solar cells, according to data from InfoLink Consulting.

Last June, Drinda announced it would invest USD700 million to build a high-efficiency solar cell plant with an annual production capacity of 10 GW in Oman, with the first phase expected to be put into operation by the end of this year.

As a result of overcapacity in the Chinese PV industry, Drinda reported a net loss of CNY591 million (USD82.2 million) for 2024, with revenue nearly halving to CNY10 billion (USD1.4 billion). But the firm grew its share of revenue from foreign markets to 24 percent from 5 percent the year before.

Drinda's shares [SHE: 002865] closed 1.6 percent higher at CNY38.08 (USD5.30) each in Shenzhen today. Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 2865] was trading down 0.6 percent at HKD25.25 (USD3.22) as of 3.52 p.m. local time.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione