NEWS

Key Takeaways

• Astronergy will build what it says will be Turkey’s 1st wholly, foreign-owned solar cell factory  

• It will be in addition to the company’s module factory that it says it operates here  

• It will benefit from government incentives for domestic cell manufacturing under HIT-30 program 

Chinese solar cell and module producer Astronergy plans to build a TOPCon solar cell manufacturing facility in Turkey, along with an R&D center. It will be the 1st wholly-owned foreign-owned solar cell factory in the country, says Astronergy.  

The manufacturer already operates a solar module factory in Turkey. The addition of a solar cell factory will promote its backward integration and build a complete production chain.

It plans to export 80% of its cell production capacity from the Turkish facility since the country is an ‘important hub’ connecting the European and Asian markets. Astronergy has not officially specified the annual production capacity of the proposed cell fab.

Its cell factory plans fall under Turkey’s July 2024 launched $30 billion worth High-Tech Investment Program (HIT-30). Through this program, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan aims to attract international investors for investment in renewable energy, batteries, electric vehicles and semiconductors. Turkey wants to become a global hub in high-tech production by 2030 through this program. 

For solar cell production in Turkey, Erdoğan had announced a grant support of up to $8,000/MW to establish up to 15 GW capacity in solar energy in the country under the HIT-30 program in July 2024 (see Turkey Announces $8,000 Grant Support/MW For Solar Cell Investments). 

Astronergy signed an agreement with the government for its proposed cell factory in Turkey during the launch of Turkey’s 2030 Industry and Technology Strategy. Erdoğan said, “We thereby hope to establish an industrial ecosystem where industrial goods are manufactured in a more efficient and more competitive way. We want to maximize our technological independence, ensuring that Türkiye both generates technology and becomes a leading country in the manufacturing and export of high-tech products.”  

While speaking at the TaiyangNews 2024 Solar & Sustainability 2024 Conference, Astronergy’s Senior Technical Manager Jerzy Rudnicki had shared 65 GW of solar cells and 76 GW of modules as the company’s production capacity by the end of 2024 with 3 overseas factories (see Astronergy: Towards Zero-Carbon Solar Panels).