OCI to invest $40 million to expand US solar module production facilities

OCI Co., a leading South Korean solar power cell manufacturer, said on Monday it will invest $40 million to expand the solar cell module production facilities at its US subsidiary, Mission Solar Energy.

With the expansion, OCI’s US plant, based in Texas, will be producing not just residential solar cell modules but also commercial and industrial products, focusing on high-power, high-efficiency M10 modules, it said.

The facility expansion will begin in the fourth quarter of this year, with an aim to start commercial production around the end of 2023, according to OCI.

As a result, the US subsidiary’s solar cell module production capacity will rise to 1 gigawatts (GW) from the current 210 megawatts (MW), it said.

OCI, Korea’s lone producer of polysilicon, a raw material used to make photovoltaic cells for semiconductor wafers and solar panels, stands to benefit from the US government’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which supports private firms’ investments in renewable energy projects in the country to respond to climate change.

The Inflation Reduction Act has allotted $369 billion for climate and energy provisions in the next decade.

IRA A TAILWIND FOR OCI

With the implementation of the IRA, OCI is expected to receive up to $560 million in subsidies from the US government over a decade from next year.

Helped by the tax incentives, US solar energy demand is forecast to grow from 15GW a year in 2022 to 38GW a year by 2025.

To meet the growing demand for solar cell modules in the US, OCI plans to establish a stable supply chain for polysilicon from its Malaysian plant.

Demand for the solar cell raw material is rising significantly on the back of the global push for carbon neutrality and the pursuit of renewable energy.

Demand for renewable energy assets has also surged as environmentally conscious investors and energy companies seek green power to meet goals to achieve net-zero emissions.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at Kkm1026@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.