Chinese presence to help local industry mature while creating jobs, experts say

Trina Solar US has secured $235 million in financing for its planned 125,000-square-meter solar plant in Wilmer, a small city about 24 kilometers south of downtown Dallas in Texas.

The company, a subsidiary of Trina Solar, which is based in China's Jiangsu province, will use the loan to construct and operate a solar photovoltaic, or PV, manufacturing plant.

Standard Chartered, the London bank that arranged the deal, announced the "green" loan in a news release on Aug 7.

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Trina Solar leased the space at Tradepoint 45 West industrial development area to set up a factory to manufacture and assemble high-power solar panels and PV modules, a company statement said.

The plant is expected to commence operations by year-end and provide 1,500 jobs for locals at full capacity.

"We were thrilled to bring together this group of leaders and community members to celebrate our commitment to the City of Wilmer and the clean energy industry," Steven Zhu, CEO of Trina Solar North America, said in the company's first announcement of the factory.

Jerry Wu, CFO at Trina Solar, said in a statement that the project is "the first nonrecourse syndicated project financing in the United States raised by a PV module manufacturer and renewable enterprise".

The factory capacity is 5 gigawatts, the company said.

A recent analysis by Reuters concluded that Chinese companies will have at least 20 GW of annual solar panel production capacity on US soil within the next year. Chinese companies account for about one-fifth of the solar factories announced since the United States adopted new climate subsidies under the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act program.

A few major solar panel projects by Chinese companies are underway. Illuminate USA, a joint venture between Chinese solar equipment maker Longi and US company Invenergy, began manufacturing at a 5-GW plant in Pataskala, Ohio, in February. The project is expected to employ 1,000 workers at full capacity.

China-based solar cell and module manufacturer JA Solar will establish a 2-GW production facility in Phoenix, Arizona. Expected to be operational by year-end, the company said the $60 million investment will create 600 new jobs.

Experts say China's presence in solar panel production on US soil will help the domestic solar manufacturing industry mature while creating jobs.

"They have a lot more experience building factories and setting up supply chains," David Feldman, a solar market researcher with the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, told Reuters.

Leading producer

China is a leading producer of solar energy. The International Energy Agency reported that in 2023, 407 to 446 GW direct current of PV was installed globally, and China accounted for 60 percent of the total installations globally.

The US was the second-largest market in terms of cumulative and annual installations, with 26.3 GW installed in 2023, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

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Liu Ying, a researcher at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China, said China and the US are highly complementary in the field of new energy cooperation. China has extensive experience and advanced technology, while the US is a vast market for new energy.

"As the world's two largest carbon emitters, the cooperation between China and the US in the field of new energy is of great significance," she said. "China and the US should make joint efforts to lead in advancing the global energy industry and guiding the energy transition to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality."

Contact the writers at mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com