Solar power firm to spend P27B for capex

Solar cell maker SunPower Philippines Manufacturing Ltd. on Thursday said it will invest roughly P27 billion this year until 2008, for the expansion of its plant in Batangas. During a press briefing at its office in Binan, SunPower vice president for manufacturing Greg Reichow said the investment would allow the firm to expand their existing 110 megawatt solar wafer plant to 400-MW capacity. Reichow said the new plant, now under construction inside the First Philippines Industrial Park in Batangas, will be completed by July this year. The project, he said, would also generate as much as 2,000 new jobs by 2008. SunPower’s investment plan represents 34 percent of total Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) registered investments in the Philippines. This investment far overshadows the P8.8 billion it took to build SunPower's Binan facility. The SunPower plant in the Laguna Technological Park is designed to produce the company's A300 cell, which it describes as "a clean, efficient and world-class power source." Citing success of operation in the Philippines, he said SunPower is likely to expand its capacity further in the near-term. Reichow said the company is mulling the possibility of constructing another 450 MW plant in a location yet to be determined. "We're still looking at possible site (for the third plant)," Reichow said. Banking on the bright prospect of semiconductor business in the country, SunPower is projecting its sales revenues to triple to $650 million this year from 2006’s $240 million. Reichow attributed the optimistic revenue projection to anticipated higher worldwide demand and the opening of the new facility.-GMANews.TV