Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn

One of Hanwha Group’s representative future businesses is the photovoltaic power business.  Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn delivered his commemorative anniversary speech in October 2011 in which he stressed the need for nurturing such new growth businesses as the photovoltaic power that makes a history and lays a foundation for long-term investment. Despite the hard times, the photovoltaic power business has experienced, the business group has invested heavily in the area. Of late, this strategy has begun to bear fruits.

Hanwha Q Cells, listed on the NASDAQ, had suffered losses for the fourth consecutive year since 2011. Things started changing in the second quarter of 2015 when the company turned the corner by posting a $1 million operating profit. Hanwha Q Cells returned to profitability after consolidating with Hanwha SolarOne. The company made strides by chalking up 403 billion won in operating profit in the third quarter of 2015, a nearly 40-fold jump over the previous quarter. Hanwha Q Cells logged $178 million in accumulative net profit in the first nine months of last year. 

The company’s latest performance was owed to the successful restructuring following the consolidation, the stabilization of automatic assembly lines in Korea, Malaysia and China, the continuous improvements of processes, and a drop in unit prices caused by high-efficiency cell productions, Hawha Group officials said. 

Industry’s Biggest-Ever Module Supply Deal

Hanwha Q Cells signed an agreement to supply modules with a capacity of a combined 1.5GW to NextEra Energy Resources during the period between April 2015 and the end of this year, the biggest-ever contract. The installation of the 1.5GW modules means the capability of supplying electricity to Daegu’s population of 2.5 million people. NextEra Energy Resources will install the modules from Hanwha Q Cells to photovoltaic power plants across the United States the former plans to build. 

The latest deal calls for the holding of negotiations this summer on Hanwha Q Cells’ supply of modules to photovoltaic power plants that NextEra Energy Resources will build after 2017.

Hanwha Q Cells also signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) between Hanwha and Austin Energy last October. Hanwha Q Cells USA will build a 170 MW utility-scale solar power plant in an area measuring 5.8 million square meters in Texas, which is twice the size of Yeouido, Seoul, and sell the electricity generated by the facility to Austin Energy. It plans to complete the development, design and construction of the solar project in an expedited fashion. 

Raids into Emerging Markets

Hanwha Q Cells is aggressively accelerating its efforts to tap emerging markets. The company established a joint venture with ReNew Power of India. The two companies plan to build two photovoltaic power plants with a combined capacity of 148.4MW in India’s Telangana state.

Hanwha Q Cells also signed a deal to supply 70MW modules with Adani Group of India. This new contract is the second batch supply to Adani following its first supply of 70 MW, previously announced in July 2015. The modules will be installed to power the province of Tamil Nadu and the construction is scheduled for a completion by March 2016.

Hanwha Q Cells is entering the Turkish market with an 18.3MW photovoltaic power plant construction agreement. The company dedicated an 8.3MW photovoltaic power plant, the first phase project, and began to generate electricity. Hanwha Q Cells plan to dedicate the remaining 10MW photovoltaic power plant in the third quarter of the year.

“The photovoltaic power segment is an arena of creation and convergence that have great spill-over effects to related industries,” a Hanwha Group official said. Hanwha Group will contribute to enriching the future of states and humanity through photovoltaic power, he added. 

The photovoltaic power business is one of the group’s representative future businesses. Shown here is a photovoltaic power plant in Oita Prefecture  Japan, build by Hanwha. (Photos:Hanwha Group)