[Click eStock] "European Energy Crisis, Solar Power Demand Surges... Hanwha Solutions Performance Improvement"

Hanwha Solutions Projects 285% Increase in Performance Next Year, Expected 400 Billion KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Hana Securities forecasted that Hanwha Solutions' performance will improve due to increased demand for solar panel installations amid the energy crisis in Europe.

Yoon Jae-sung, a researcher at Hana Securities, stated, "Strong demand for solar panel installations, expansion of production capacity centered in the U.S., vertical integration, and cost reduction in polysilicon and wafers are additional factors for improving solar performance." He added, "We estimate Hanwha Solutions' 2023 solar performance to increase by 285% year-on-year to approximately 400 billion KRW, and expect further improvement if polysilicon prices decline."

In response to the G7's oil price cap, Russia has indefinitely extended its gas supply cut to Europe. As a result, the 'TTF gas' price has surged by 20-30%. Although European countries' gas inventories are currently filled to 85-90%, if Russia's supply is halted, they can only last up to 2.5 months, after which inventories must be replenished.

Considering China's 21% drop in cumulative gas imports from January to July this year and domestic demand stagnation leading to restocking demand for winter sales to Europe, it is projected that the global gas and electricity supply shortage may continue at least until the first half of next year.

Researcher Yoon said, "European solar installation demand is surging rapidly, along with global solar capacity expansion and Europe's efforts to alleviate power shortages." He added, "Last year, Europe's installation volume was 27GW, but this year's forecast has been revised upward from the initial 30GW to the high 39GW range."

In the first half of this year, the UK's residential rooftop solar installation expanded significantly to 106MW, nearly matching last year's annual installation volume. At this pace, 2022 installations are expected to surpass the 140MW installed in 2016 when subsidies were available. Germany also saw a 22% increase in installations compared to the previous year.

Researcher Yoon stated, "First Solar, a U.S. solar panel manufacturer, announced plans to build a 3.5GW panel factory in the U.S. targeting 2025, aiming at the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)." He continued, "Hanwha Solutions is also understood to be planning vertical integration covering polysilicon, cells, and modules through a 2.4 trillion KRW investment in the U.S., and to expand module production capacity from the current 1.7GW to 12.1GW by 2025."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.