Taiwan PV manufacturer Neo Solar Power was reported shutting down its PV module factory in Miaoli, Taiwan in late January, and the operators will be allocated to its PV cell manufacturing facilities. Although NSP clarified that it is simply a temporary “pause” due to weak demand for PV modules, this suspension will impact the annual utilization rates of the 200MW production capacity.

An anonymous employee from the NSP factory exposed the sudden shutdown to a Taiwanese media, Apple Daily, and reported that NSP relocated the operators and other workers to produce PV cells in Hsinchu. However, those who are unable to coordinate have to resign, according to the exposure to Apple Daily. In addition, it was also reported that NSP is about to relocate the 200MW PV module production line from Taiwan to Southeastern Asia.

Dr. Sam Hong, CEO of NSP, refuted the shutdown and factory relocation. He explained that the “pause” of PV module production was from weakened demand for PV modules and stronger demand for PV cells in this quarter instead of for relocation. Furthermore, employees that are unable to coordinate with NSP’s new allocation and training are open to negotiations, and the resignation accusation was completely misleading.

NSP could reduce PV module production in Taiwan

It has been reported and confirmed that NSP has plans to establish PV cell/module manufacturing factories outside of Taiwan. EnergyTrend’s data shows that, by the end of 2015, NSP runs a total of 460MW PV module production capacity, including 200MW of NSP in-house capacity in Taiwan, 200MW of NSP in-house capacity in China, and 60MW of NSP partner General Energy Solutions (GES) in Taiwan.

NSP plans to expand its global PV module production capacity to 1GW in years, and the major target for factory establishment is Southeastern Asia.

The “paused” PV module factory in Miaoli will suspend production of NSP’s 200MW-capable module production line in Taiwan. Nonetheless, it is unsure if NSP would restart the production by now. As EnergyTrend learns, NSP will mainly expand its PV module capacity outside Taiwan for its overseas solar power plant projects to be developed – NSP plans to increase its plant portfolio from today’s 100MW to 500~600MW.

If the Miaoli PV module factory were ultimately terminated and relocated in an overseas facility, NSP’s only PV module production line in Taiwan will be the one operated by its partner CES.

Currently, NSP has approximately 2.2GW of PV cell production capacity globally and most of the cells are produced in Taiwan. NSP plans to expand the PV cell capacity to 2.5GW by the end of 2016.