Inox Bags Nitrogen Deal With First Solar For Tamil Nadu PV Plant

INOX Air Products (INOXAP), India’s largest manufacturer of industrial and medical gases, has signed a 20-year agreement with First Solar, the American manufacturer of thin film solar modules which is starting commercial production at Tamil Nadu soon. The agreement covers the design, engineering, installation, and operations of a Cryogenic Nitrogen Generator to supply high-purity Nitrogen for First Solar’s new facility in Pillaipakkam, Tamil Nadu.

INOXAP’s Cryogenic Nitrogen Generator will have a capacity of 2400 Nm3/hour, supplying Nitrogen and other industrial gases to First Solar’s facility for use in its manufacturing processes.

Commenting on the contract, Siddharth Jain, Managing Director – INOX Air Products adds, “At INOX Air Products, we are committed to provide innovative solutions that promote generation of clean energy and help reduce the carbon footprint. We are delighted to partner with First Solar, a global provider of eco-efficient solar modules, as they begin their India journey. ”

Sujoy Ghosh, Vice President and Managing Director of First Solar in India said, “INOX Air Products’ expertise in managing large-scale and complex engineering projects, and safely and reliably delivering industrial gases, made it a solid choice as a partner for this project.”

First Solar’s new facility, has an annual nameplate capacity of 3.4 gigawatts (GWDC), to manufacture high-efficiency solar modules.

First Solar’s claims that its advanced thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules have the lowest carbon and water footprint of any commercially available PV module today, and it’s the first PV manufacturer to have its product included in the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) global registry for sustainable electronics.

In India, the firm will be focused on ensuring inclusion in the MNRE’s ALMM list soon, besides other tendering mechanisms to include its thin film technology modules in the approved list of options for solar projects.

The INOX deal underscores the fillip to the support ecosystem for solar manufacturing, as specialised requirements come up that will need to be met locally, from ultra pure water to nitrogen gases and other key inputs in the manufacturing process.

First Solar’s parent firm in the US has been on an expansion spree recently, establishing multiple plants in the US, besides a claimed order pipeline of 69 GW at last count, going well into 2029 and beyond. The firm expects a global annual manufacturing capacity of over 20 GW by 2025.