PVTIME – NorSun, a Norwegian ingot and wafer manufacturer, recently announced the company’s decision to close its manufacturing facility and operations, which had a nameplate capacity of 1GW of ingots and wafers per year in Norway.
According to NorSun, the European market is facing serious challenges such as low-priced imports and an oversupply of products from China and Southeast Asia, and the lack of market regulation in Europe has led to a collapse in prices, adding that solar modules are being sold at prices below the cost of production.
NorSun said it would now focus on its US manufacturing facilities. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a plan to build a 5GW annual capacity silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing facility in the US state of Oklahoma.
According to NorSun, the US plant has signed long-term sales contracts with a number of customers for the planned production volume, contracts with a number of suppliers to ensure the supply of all key production equipment, and an engineering and construction contract with a construction company.
Although production has not yet commenced, the company has entered into a 1GW wafer supply agreement with Canadian solar manufacturer Heliene. This supply will commence in 2026. The final investment decision for the project is expected in the first quarter of 2025.
NorSun is one of only a handful of companies to have announced the establishment of wafer manufacturing capabilities in the US, including glass manufacturer Corning, South Korea’s Hanwha Qcells (through vertically integrated manufacturing facilities) and German wafer manufacturer NexWafe.
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