SINGAPORE (Feb 9): One of the world’s largest producers of the key raw material for solar panels is planning a massive expansion amid surging demand for clean energy.
Xinte Energy Co will build a polysilicon project able to produce about a third of current global production in Inner Mongolia, it said Monday in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company’s shares have more than quadrupled since mid-December on the back of demand for the material that transmits electrons excited by photons of light, generating electricity.
China’s climate push, along with a return to clean energy zeal in the US, mean demand for solar panels may create a shortage of polysilicon this year, according to Daiwa Capital Markets. Other makers have also seen their shares surge and announced separate plans to expand production.