(Yicai Global) Nov. 24 -- Chinese solar wafer manufacturer Shuangliang Eco-Energy Systems has placed its third order to ensure the raw material supply of its new plant in northern China.

Shuangliang's unit in Baotou will purchase 25,200 tons of polycrystalline silicon from Qinghai-based Asia Silicon, the Jiangsu province-based buyer said in a statement yesterday. The deal could be worth CNY6.8 billion (USD1.1 billion). Deliveries will start next month and continue till November 2026.

This is the third polycrystalline silicon order for Shuangliang's new solar wafer production base in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. On Sept. 22, the Baotou unit inked an agreement with three suppliers. Moreover, it closed another similar deal with a firm in Jiangsu province on the same day, based on the parent's statements. The two agreements, which last till December 2026, involve 135,000 tons of polycrystalline silicon, worth about CNY28.7 billion (USD4.5 billion) based on earlier market prices.

Shuangliang broke ground on the CNY14 billion plant in Inner Mongolia last February. The facility should increase the firm's annual capacity of large-size silicon wafers to 40 gigawatts by 2023. The first phase of the project with a designed annual capacity of 20 GW already began production on Sept. 30, public information shows.

Since September, the Baotou unit has attracted three big solar battery clients for the new production base. The three customers will buy 5.4 billion pieces of large-size wafers from the base between 2022 and 2024, possibly worth as much as CNY29.3 billion.

Shuangliang's stock price [SHA: 600481] was 1.3 percent up at CNY12.33 (USD1.90) in the afternoon. The shares are more than three times up this year.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi