On Thursday, the world’s largest solar encapsulant film manufacturing facility with a total investment of 21.6 billion yuan has started construction in China’s coastal city Lianyungang, said CCTV News.
Once put into operation, the facility will be able to produce one million tons of solar encapsulant film, satisfying an estimated 40%-45% of market demand internationally.
The project, owned by Eastern Shenghong, involves the construction of three solar encapsulant material facilities, one high-performance engineering plastics facility and one high-quality polyolefin facility.
Encapsulant film is a key material for the production of solar modules. It is also widely used in electronic devices, automobiles, etc.
Zhu Hengjun, manager of the project, said that, “solar encapsulant materials have high production barriers and a long production expansion cycle. However, the company has realized stable mass production with its innovated technologies.”
With a planned annual production capacity of one million tons, Eastern Shenghong is expected to become the world’s largest solar EVA producer.
At present, China imports over 60% of its solar encapsulants overseas. The completion of the project will significantly improve the country’s self-sufficiency in this regard.
According to China Photovoltaic Industry Association, China installed 30.88 GW solar systems in the first half of 2022, a year-on-year increase of 137.4%. It is predicted that 85 GW to 100 GW will be installed by the end of this year, which requires about one million tons of PV grade EVA materials.
Up to now, 25 provinces in China have laid out plans to install solar and wind energy during the 14th Five Year Plan period (2021-2025). A total of 344.48 GW of solar power is planned to be installed in four years.
