Chinese PV Industry Brief: Tongwei raises cell prices, Longi joins forces with Engie

Solar cell manufacturer Tongwei released its May cell prices, which, with the sole exception of the monocrystalline products (158.75 mm), registered an increase. The company’s quoted price for mainstream mono PERC single/double sides cell measuring 158.75 mm remained stable at RMB 0.96 (US$0.14) per watt. Mono PERC single/double sides cells (166 mm) climbed by 3 cents to RMB 0.92 per watt. The price of multi-crystalline cells (157 mm) increased by 4.1% to RMB 0.76 per watt. Mono PERC single/double sides cells (210 mm) were priced at RMB 0.93 per watt, with an increase of 2 cents.

Module manufacturer Longi has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with French energy giant Engie. Under the terms, Longi will provide the French company with at least 600 MW of solar PV panels in 2021. Furthermore, the two companies agreed to jointly develop PV projects in major solar markets including India, France, and Italy, among others.

China-based power transmission and distribution equipment provider Chint Group announced in its annual report that it has become China’s largest private owner of solar power generation assets. At the end of 2020, the company was operating 550 solar plants with a combined capacity of 5.7 GW in China. The second-largest PV plant owner at the end of last year was GCL, which operated a total PV capacity of 4.83 GW. The company had to sell several PV projects during 2020 in order to restructure a difficult financial position.