JinkoSolar’s Malaysia Plant 100% Renewable Powered Now

In a welcome development, global module major Jinko Solar has ensured that it’s overseas plant at Malaysia is powered completely by renewable energy. That makes it the first overseas plant to be 100% renewable powered. Jinko Solar was the first company to establish a “vertically integrated” production capacity from silicon material processing to wafer, cell and module production in the industry. It has a total of 12 global production bases in China, the United States, Malaysia and Vietnam. As of Q1 2022, the company’s effective production capacity of monocrystalline silicon wafers, cells and modules reach 40GW, 40GW and 50GW respectively.

The firm has opted for utility scale power purchases from solar and hydropower generators to ensure that the energy consumption at the plant are completely green. With a total of 7GW of vertically integrated solar cell+module capacity, this is one of Jinko’s largest plants outside China with an annual power demand of 335 million kWh. The power purchases also make it possibly the biggest corporate buyer of green energy in Malaysia and possibly South East Asia.

Most renewable energy equipment manufacturers do have rooftop solar at their plants, as we have regularly observed across India and China especially. This is true of players across the chain, be it modules or inverters. What has kept most from going 100% renewable is the high cost of storage and limitations of their local grids in most cases. However, expect many more firms to do so as storage costs drop and local grids also get a higher share of renewable energy.

Jinko has recently been talking up the features of n-type modules, where it has been one of the earliest major manufacturers to push into large scale manufacturing. It is also adding a 7 GW wafer and ingot manufacturing facility in Vietnam this year, a major diversification of the critical pieces of the solar supply chain beyond China.

The company has benefited from the rising module prices in recent quarters, with revenues and profits beating volume growth comfortably. A market shift towards larger modules, as well as bifacials will continue to support margins, as demand remains strong for solar. In March this year, it claimed to be the first solar manufacturer to have shipped 100 GW modules worldwide.