Meyer Burger Gets Up to EUR 22.5Mn in Public Funding to Build HJT Solar Cell Production

The year 2020 ended on a satisfactory note for Meyer Burger Technology Ltd as it received two positive grant notifications aggregating EUR 22.5 million to build environment friendly solar cell production.

The state of Saxony-Anhalt and the Federal Republic of Germany have pledged up to EUR 15 million as environmental protection aid for the establishment of heterojunction (HJT) solar cell production in Thalheim. The approval of the environmental protection aid was a specifically drafted expert’s opinion from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.

The report confirms that Meyer Burger’s HJT technology for solar cell production has significant environmental advantages against conventional manufacturing processes. It’s investment have also been considered exceptionally innovative and environmentally friendly.

Commenting on receiving the grant, Gunter Erfurt, CEO of Meyer Burger, said that “we are pleased to receive this significant environmental aid. It proves that heterojunction technology is not only more efficient but also more environmental friendly than conventional solar cell technologies.”

Additionally, an investment grant of EUR 7.5 million has been awarded to the company within the framework of public financial assistance for the improvement of regional economic structure (GRW) for the assembling of the production facility in Thalheim, likely to be drawn through the end of 2023.

A prerequisite for the disbursement of the grants is a confirmation of financing for the planned investments in the production site, which allows for an annual capacity of 1.4 GW, and the company has been confident to meet this requirement.

However, an aggregate of EUR 22.5 million from the two grants may still be reduced according to the state aid law of the European Union if further public financing support should be claimed. Grants of this range were expected by Meyer Burger and were also included in its existing business plan.

Meanwhile, the establishment of HJT production lines and sales organization have been progressing according to plan, and the production is expected to start in the second quarter of 2021 with annually 0.4 GW of solar cells and 0.4 GW of solar modules, the company said in a statement.

The company is also planning to expand production capacity of solar cells to 1.4 GW in a next step and as quickly as possible, subject to successful debt financing.