Hungary's Astrasun Solar Kft has announced plans to build an integrated wafer, battery cell, and solar module production facility in Romania. The new facility will service solar projects developed by the company in the country. It has a total installed capacity of 1.2 GW in Romania so far, with more projects expected to come online in 2024.
"Using funding from the European Recovery and Resilience Facility (RFF), Astrasun plans to cooperate with the European Solar Manufacturing Council in southern Romania to build and operate silicon ingot, solar cell, and photovoltaic element factories in Romania," the company said.
The new facility will be located in the Turnu Măgurele region and will include a 1.8 GW wafer fab, a 1.5 GW solar cell production unit, and a 1.2 GW component factory. Astrasun said it will invest 102 million euros (US$107.9 million) in the wafer fab, 110 million euros in the battery factory, and 55 million euros in the panel factory. Overall, the three facilities will employ more than 800 people.
According to Mihai Balan, executive director of the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association (RPIA), the Eastern European country may soon have several factories related to renewable energy.
Balan told pv magazine in March: "RPIA and RWEA have developed the RESinvest initiative for a strong domestic renewable energy supply chain, and Romania has already passed the National Recovery Plan and Modernization Fund."
The Romanian NRRP aims to secure a share of the 750 billion euros provided by the European Union to help member states recover from the pandemic - anticipating the development of the solar cell and panel value chain. Total annual capacity is expected to reach at least 200 MW by 2025.
US-based Enphase recently announced that it will start producing microinverters in Timisoara, Romania, from the first quarter of 2023.