Page 8 - Energize May 2021

NEWS

World’s largest solar tech leader partners and framing machines for the new
assembly lines will be procured by ARTsolar
with South African solar PV panel maker from LONGi’s well-established and world-
renowned plant suppliers.
The new solar PV panel assembly lines
will initially produce state-of-the-art LONGi
by Chris Yelland, EE Business Intelligence IPP Office of the DMRE for South Africa’s bifacial solar PV modules with 540 W output,
Renewable Energy IPP Procurement (REIPPP) using 182 mm, half-cut PV cells and nine
ONGi Solar, said to be the world’s largest programme in terms of the national Integrated busbars (upgradable to twelve if required in
solar photovoltaic (PV) technology Resource Plan for electricity, IRP 2019. the future).
Lcompany, is partnering with Durban- LONGi and ARTsolar have ambitions All materials, including the solar PV cells
based solar PV panel manufacturer, ARTsolar, to be the major supplier of locally made themselves, will be supplied by LONGi, and
to meet the requirements of the South African solar PV panels for the RMIPPP and the full manufacturing process, including
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy REIPPP programmes, and for subsequent testing and quality assurance, will be
(DMRE) Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement procurements of solar power in South Africa operated under the direct supervision of
(RMIPPP) programme, and beyond. and the region, for mainly utility-scale PV LONGi staff. The PV panels will be delivered
LONGi, a Tier 1 solar PV manufacturer power plants. to the engineering, procurement, and
listed on the Shanghai stock exchange, The long gestation period of the RMIPPP construction (EPC) operations of the project
supplies more than 30 GW of high-efficiency programme provided ARTsolar time to plan a developers, under the LONGi brand, label
solar wafers and PV panels worldwide new, state-of-the-art, 500 MW per year, solar and warranty.
annually, which comprises about a quarter of PV panel assembly facility in partnership It is expected that LONGi’s Tier 1
global market demand. with LONGi. Eshu Seevnarayan says the status, 30-year warranty, TUV approved
ARTsolar was established in Durban in new facility will commence assembly and bill-of-materials, ISO 9001 certified
2010 by entrepreneurs Eshu Seevnarayan stockpiling of panels in August 2021, for quality management system and their
and Patrick Goss, who remain shareholders delivery starting in the first quarter of 2022. overall supervision of the process, will
of the 100% South African-owned company. “It is significant that this will be the provide sufficient comfort to developers
Its current PV panel production line was only LONGi solar PV panel assembly plant and bankability by lenders for the locally
designed for a capacity of 300 MW a year, to be operating in Africa. This demonstrates assembled product.
although due to market conditions over the commitment and confidence of both “As there is a genuine long-term
the last five years, it has been operating companies in South Africa and the region”, commitment to localisation, we will
significantly below this level. said Viren Gosai, general manager at ARTsolar. be there to support and facilitate this
On 19 March 2021, DMRE Minister A second 500 MW capacity assembly commitment. This also shows our proximity
Gwede Mantashe announced preferred line is planned to follow shortly after the first to the Africa market.”, said LONGi’s MEA
bidders for the RMIPPP programme, which commences operation, bringing ARTsolar’s (Middle East and Africa) Regional Business
alone will require some 2,2-million solar PV new capacity to 1 GW per year. The existing Development Managers, Emeka Wosu and
panels with a total capacity of about 1300 300 MW per year facility will then focus Ulrich Dedo, in brief discussions with EE
MW for delivery of power into the grid by on the less demanding but fast growing Business Intelligence recently.
the end of August 2022. To achieve this domestic, commercial, and industrial rooftop Since starting the first solar PV panel
ambitious target, the projects must reach solar PV sectors in the region. assembly line in 2010, ARTsolar has diversified
financial closure by the end of July 2021. The two new ARTsolar assembly lines into systems integration for the engineering,
A further two procurement rounds of will be completely separate from the supply, and installation of complete, turnkey,
green energy from solar PV projects, each existing 300 MW per year facility situated in grid-tied solar PV and battery energy storage
with a capacity of 1000 MW, are expected the Pinetown industrial area of Durban. The projects in the domestic, commercial
to commence in 2021, facilitated by the solar PV cell stringer, busbar, lamination, industrial and utility sectors.
The company has
invested significantly
in technical
training and skills
development in close
association with the
Durban University
of Technology (DUT)
and the University
of Kwa-Zulu Natal
(UKZN). The new
1 GW assembly
facilities will add a
further permanent
500 jobs to their
existing workforce.

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