Trina Solar Ltd. has entered into an agreement with Yabang Investment Holding Group Co. Ltd. to establish a joint venture to acquire manufacturing assets from Changzhou NESL Solartech Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Yabang Group that produces PV modules.
The joint venture will be named Changzhou Trina Yabang Solar Energy Co. Ltd. Trina Solar will hold a 51% stake in the joint venture, and Yabang Group will hold 49%. The total investment by Trina Solar and Yabang Group is approximately $45 million, which the partners say will be used for capital expenditure and working capital. The joint venture aims to increase total solar module production capacity to 500 MW within the next 12 months.
‘As we expect the demand for solar modules will continue to grow, particularly in China, Japan and emerging markets, the joint venture will strengthen Trina Solar's market position by delivering much-needed extra module production capacity,’ says Jifan Gao, chairman and CEO of Trina Solar.
Some analysts have recently noted that growth in China, Japan and emerging markets may be dampened somewhat in 2014 by certain risks in those markets.
