International Finance Corporation (IFC) has made an investment up to US$60 million in Malaysia’s solar power firm Jinko Malaysia to support the firm’s technology investment.
The capital from IFC, the investment arm of World Bank, will be given in two parts – US$40 million of IFC A Loan from IFC’s own account and US$20 million which is mobilized via its Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program (MCPP).
This investment from IFC also comes as a second investment within a week in the renewable energy sector in Asia, following a US$29 million investment in renewable energy firm Fotowatio Renewable Ventures via NCDs on Wednesday.
Looking at IFC, the venture capital firm is increasingly becoming an important player in the private investment and venture capital space in Southeast Asia. Pravan Malhotra, IFC’s co-lead responsible for the company’s investment in Southeast Asia said, “supporting inclusive growth is one of IFC’s priorities in the region. We invest in projects that help create opportunities in all segments of society.”
Established in 2015, Jinko Malaysia is the local arm of JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd. based in Jiangxi, China. Its Chinese parent company is a vertically integrated manufacturer of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar modules, producing monocrystalline and multi-crystalline ingots, wafers, cells, and modules.
Meanwhile, Jinko Malaysia manufactures solar energy cells and modules, as well as related auxiliary products. It operates solar cell and module manufacturing facilities with production capacities of 1500 MWp and 1300 MWp respectively.
JinkoSolar has over 13,000 employees across its 12 global sales offices, 11 oversea subsidiaries, and 4 production facilities which are in China’s Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, Portugal and South Africa.
The bulk of the modules produced by Jinko is sold internationally. While its main manufacturing facilities are located in the Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, the company is also planning to increase the overseas module capacity of plants in Malaysia and South Africa.
The company will use the capital raised for a US$100 million project to upgrade its existing solar cell production lines in a technology the company regard as Passivated Emitter Rear Cell (PERC) that increases energy conversion and reduce system costs.
Besides, part of the investment will also go to related working capital in which is required by the solar power firm for its existing production facilities in Penang.
By Vivian Foo, VCNewsNetwork
