China’s Aiko Solar Will Spend $2.87B to Build Plants in Zhejiang

(Bloomberg) --

Shanghai Aiko Solar Energy Co. will invest 20 billion yuan ($2.87 billion) to build photovoltaic cell manufacturing plants in Zhejiang province, according to an agreement between the company and the local government.

The facilities will have total annual capacity of 36 gigawatts and construction will last for seven years, the company said in a filing to Shanghai stock exchange on Sunday. Aiko Solar will fund the investment with its own money and funds raised through various other channels, it said.

The project will help the company meet increasing demand for high-efficiency solar cells. The first phase of construction will start this month and the plants will start producing solar cells in December, the statement says. The first phase will add 10 gigawatts of capacity, it said.

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