Major Chinese glass manufacturer Flat Glass Group has announced that its subsidiary Nantong Flat Glass will invest around RMB 6 billion to set up six new production lines for PV glass. Each production line will have a melting capacity of 1,200 tons per day. The proposal for the capacity expansion project was approved at a board meeting held on March 2, and the company said that this undertaking fits into its development strategy.
The six new production lines are to be located in the Tongzhou Bay Demonstration Zone, which is within the city of Nantong in China’s Jiangsu Province. Their construction will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, four glass furnaces and the complementing processing lines will be built. The remaining two production lines will be installed in the second phase.
Flat Glass in its notice stated that this investment is necessary as it will ensure sufficient production capacity for glass panels used in large-size PV modules and bifacial PV modules. Market demand is currently shifting toward larger sizes and dual-glass designs. At the same time, increasing the number of high-capacity furnaces will strengthen the company’s cost advantage and capability to differentiate products. This, in turn, will lead to the capturing of more market share for PV glass, along with achieving the related objectives laid out in the company’s development strategy.