Chinese giant Solar Photovoltaic (PV) plant Jinko Solar has formally opened a state-of-the-art Solar PV factory in Cape Town worth US$80m. The factory is expected to help create up to 250 jobs while producing 1300 solar PV modules a day.
This factory comes in as part of the South African Ministry of Trade and Industry plans to expand its capabilities in manufacturing, increase the county’s industrial base and thus increasing job opportunities.
This is the first power manufacturing plant by the company out of China, and also the largest and modern solar panel manufacturing factory in Africa.
According to the South African Minister for Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies, the company comes in as a response to the roll out of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) which has helped in the procurement of 1484 MW of solar PV projects.
The Chinese firm was chosen as the favorite investment in Africa because the country did not have to pay high export tariffs to Europe and USA.
The Chinese Consul to South Africa Liang Shugen also noted that trade and investment between the two countries has grown drastically over 16 years. Since the start of the diplomatic relationship between the two countries in 1998 trade has grown from US $1.5bn to US $60bn last year.
