Chinese photovoltaic firm Drinda New Energy Technology has unveiled it plans to build its second overseas high-efficiency solar cell production base in Türkiye to accelerate its globalization layout.

Drinda's subsidiary Jietai New Energy Technology partnered with Turkish new energy company Schmid Pekintaş Energy to jointly build an N-type high-efficiency solar cell plant with an annual production capacity of 5 gigawatts, Jietai announced on June 2.

Founded in 2014 by Turkish construction giant Pekintaş Holding and German PV firm Schmid Group, Schmid Pekintaş is Europe's largest PV module manufacturer and a long-term customer of Drinda, Jietai noted.

Türkiye has an annual production capacity of PV modules of over 15 GW, ranking first among European countries. However, it faces a significant shortage of solar cells, as its annual imports of the product reach 10 GW. Drinda saw potential in this market and decided to build a solar cell plant in Türkiye to meet the local fast-growing demand, Jietai pointed out.

On May 8, Drinda completed a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising HKD1.4 billion (USD178.5 million). According to the prospectus, the company would use about 75 percent of the proceeds to build an overseas factory with an annual production capacity of 5 GW, equal to about 11 percent of its total existing capacity, expected to come on stream next year.

Founded in 2003, Drinda mainly produced auto parts and interior trims in the early stages but shifted its focus to solar cells after acquiring Jietai in 2022. Jietai ranked third globally by solar cell shipments and first by N-type high-efficiency solar cell shipments last year, according to data from InfoLink Consulting.

In June last year, Drinda announced it would invest USD700 million to build a high-efficiency solar cell plant with an annual production capacity of 10 GW in Oman, with the first phase expected to be put into operation by the end of this year.

Due to a critical overcapacity in the Chinese PV industry, Drinda reported a net loss of CNY591 million (USD82.2 million) last year, with revenue nearly halving to CNY10 billion (USD1.4 billion). However, the firm achieved remarkable results in expanding overseas, with the proportion of revenue coming from foreign markets surging to 24 percent last year from 5 percent in 2023.

Drinda's shares [SHE: 002865] were trading up 2.1 percent at CNY38.26 (USD5.33) as of 10.25 a.m. in Shenzhen today. Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 2865] rose 1 percent to HKD25.65 (USD3.27).