(Yicai Global) April 7 -- Shuangliang Eco-Energy Systems plans to spend CNY5 billion (USD786 million) to construct a 20-gigawatt photovoltaic module facility as the Chinese silicon wafer manufacturer starts to make its own PV cells.

The move into solar panels will enable the coordinated development of various links in the industrial chain and improve profitability, the Jiangyin, eastern Jiangsu province-based firm said yesterday.

The first phase, costing CNY1.5 billion, will have an output of 5GW and should be finished in two years’ time, it added.

The project will be located in Shuangliang’s base in Baotou, northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where the firm is building a 40-GW large-sized monocrystalline silicon wafer facility at a cost of CNY14 billion (USD2.2 billion).

The first phase, with an output of 20 GW, began production last September. It is expected to be completed and reach full capacity next year. The new plant has already received CNY63.7 billion (USD10 billion) worth of orders from eight leading solar cell manufacturers.

Shuangliang’s share price [SHA:600481] was trading down 1.37 percent at CNY11.48 (USD1.80) as of 11:30 a.m. China time today.

Editor: Kim Taylor