FuturaSun is betting on a vertical integration strategy with the launch of a 10 GW solar cell factory in Huai’an, China. It aims to start production in spring 2024.

The planned factory

Image: FuturaSun

FuturaSun has signed a strategic agreement with the city of Huai'an, in the Chinese province of Jiangsu, for the construction of a 10 GW solar cell factory.

“The Italian company joins the ranks of the world's top photovoltaic cell manufacturers,” said FuturaSun.

The project involves the construction of a 266,000-square-meter gigafactory.

“The investment will initially amount to €150 million ($163.66 million) and will be carried out in two phases. In a 3-year span, once finalized and operational, the plant will have an annual production capacity of 10 GW of state-of-the-art, high-efficiency N-type solar cells based on TOPCon technology,” said the Italian company.

Production activities at the facility will start in the spring of 2024. The resulting solar cells will become a part of FuturaSun's modules, catering to both its Italian and Chinese gigafactories.

“This is an extraordinary and unprecedented project in which our Italian Group sets the goal of entering an arena that has so far been dominated by Chinese big players,” said Alessandro Barin, the CEO and co-founder of FuturaSun.

The signing ceremony, held this week, was attended by “high-level officials from both China and Italy.”

For the production of its PV modules, FuturaSun established its first gigafactory in Taizhou in 2020. It is currently developing a second gigafactory in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

“In recent months, FuturaSun has also been pursuing an ambitious plan for the re-industrialization of the photovoltaic supply chain in Europe, with a project for the establishment of a gigafactory in Cittadella (Italy), where the company's historic European headquarters is located,” said FuturaSun.