TSEC’s NT$700m upgrade approved
TSEC Corp (元晶太陽能), the nation’s biggest manufacturer of solar cells, was yesterday granted approval by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to invest NT$700 million (US$24.53 million) to build a new production line in Hsinchu’s Hukou Township (湖口).
TSEC’s capacity expansion came as demand for renewable energy has increased significantly after overseas Taiwanese manufacturers allocated more production back home due to the US-China trade dispute.
As TSEC’s factories are approaching full utilization, it is investing in introducing new automated systems for its manufacturing lines to make large-scale solar cells and high-efficiency solar modules as demand from home and overseas markets has exceeded supply, the company said.
TSEC said that the new investment matched the industry’s migration to 10-inch or 12-inch solar wafer cells from 6-inch, or 8-inch wafers.
The projected facility would be the first step to convert all its production lines to be capable of making the larger wafer cells within the coming three years, the company said.
Under the three-year plan, TSEC would produce solar cells with a capacity of 1 gigawatt and create about 1,000 new jobs, the company said.
The ministry also approved two investment projects by Convertek Technology Co (崧虹科技) and Goang Hann Enterprise Co (廣翰實業).
Convertek plans to invest NT$1.5 billion to build a smart factory in Taoyuan’s Bade District (八德) to manufacture hot-food paper containers and other products using surface mount technology. The company plans to create 83 new jobs.
Aluminum supplier Goang Hann plans to spend NT$60 million to upgrade its facilities with smart manufacturing equipment. The company supplies Swedish furniture maker IKEA AS and LCD panel maker Innolux Corp (群創), among others.
The ministry said that applications from 39 companies to join a program to stimulate local investment are pending.
The program has thus far attracted 760 companies with investments totalling NT$1.16 trillion since its launch last year.
The investments would create 97,960 new jobs, the ministry said.
Separately, the ministry yesterday said that 7 more small and medium-sized companies have obtained approvals to invest NT$2.8 billion in Taiwan.
Source : taipeitimes
