Recently, according to the Korean Economic Daily, the United States has taken advantage of the official supervision of Chinese competitors 'photovoltaic products. Hanwha New Energy (Hanwha Q Cells Co. ), a solar subsidiary of Hanwha Group, a Korean chemical defense company, has built a supply plant in the United States ahead of schedule.
According to industry sources, last month, Hanwha New Energy began operating a plant with an annual capacity of 2G W in Dalton, Georgia. The company initially planned to complete the construction of the facility by the end of this year, and now it has started operation four months ahead of schedule.
That followed a surge in demand for solar panels made in the United States after the United States decided to impose high tariffs on photovoltaic products produced by Chinese companies in Southeast Asia. Such products accounted for 79.3% of total U.S. solar panel imports in the first quarter. In addition, Washington has provided tax credits for solar projects in the United States, prompting local companies to increase production. Hanwha New Energy suspended production at one solar panel factory in South Korea and cut production at another due to weak demand in the domestic market,
according to industry insiders.
It is reported that Hanwha's suspended panel production plant, located in Yincheng, about 100 kilometers south of Seoul, South Korea, produces 2.9 GW solar modules annually. The plant, which cuts production, is about 18 kilometers from the Yincheng plant, which produces 2.9 GW modules and 5G W solar cells.
"We will suspend the operation of the Yincheng plant, but the detailed timeline of when to stop and restore the operation has not yet been decided," an insider said. According to the
data, Hanwha New Energy said in January this year that it would invest more than $2.5 billion to build a plant in Georgia, which is said to be the largest solar investment in the history of the United States. The company currently produces 1.7 GW of solar modules a year at a plant in Dalton, about 120 kilometers northwest of Atlanta, and last year announced a $171 million second phase of construction.