China Sunergy Expands its Market Share

According to the Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (SEA), approximately 750,000 homes have installed solar PV panels in the country, taking the installed capacity to 1.7GW

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China Sunergy Co Ltd (NASDAQ: CSUN), one of the leading Chinese solar cell and module manufacturers, has announced today that it has signed another 7.8MW solar module sale agreement with Australia-based Urban Group Energy, part of Urban Group Australia. China Sunergy considers Australia to be one of its primary markets, as the country accounted for approximately 18% of China Sunergy’s shipments in the first quarter of the current year. The company is ranked as the fourth-largest Chinese solar module supplier to Australia. Urban Group Australia and China Sunergy have been collaborating on different projects since 2010. So far, the company has supplied 28MW of solar modules to Australia in the current year. Considering the latest sale agreement, the business will make at least 35.8MW shipments to the country by the end of August.

Mr. Stephen Cai, chief executive of China Sunergy, has said, “We are happy to work with Urban Group Australia again and we value this long-term partnership. Australia is undoubtedly a very important market for us.”

Yesterday, SPVI reported about ReneSola’s 5.95MW sale to Solargain in Australia. China Sunergy would be the second shipment news story coming from Down Under. According to the Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (SEA), approximately 750,000 homes have installed solar PV panels in the country, taking the installed capacity to 1.7GW. Although, as compared to 2011, the installation rate has slowed, the SEA expects another 700MW in small-scale solar PV additions in 2012. Small-scale residential solar systems constitute nearly 90% of the entire Australian solar market. In about a year, the country is expected to touch the 2.3GW solar capacity mark with a million home-based solar systems.

The Urban Group Australia is a conglomerate of smaller companies, including Urban Group Energy, that specialize in the country’s real estate and energy sector. Urban Group Energy is further divided into four smaller business units, three of which operate in the Australian solar industry. Commenting on the group’s agreement with China Sunergy, Mr. Adam Pearse, executive director and CEO of Urban Group Australia, said, “By cooperating with China Sunergy, we believe we can both expand market share in this promising market, resulting in a win-win situation for both of us."

In another interesting development, Turkish-based news agency Hurriyet Daily News has reported that China Sunergy is planning to build a $600 million solar power plant in Turkey in collaboration with Akfel Group and Seoul Energy. According to the news report, the plant will have a production capacity of 600MW and will be Europe’s largest photovoltaic plant. Tanyan Huang, a China Sunergy executive, was in Turkey where he met with Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) President Hasan Köktaş. The news was also available on the Turkish government’s Investment Support and Promotion Agency’s (ISPAT) website. However, Elaine Li, China Sunergy’s investment relations director, told SPVI in an emailed statement that the “company is now trying to know the opportunities there, including understanding the policies, local market demand and environment etc. Nothing is for sure at this moment.”