Sharp Corp.said Monday that it has inked an agreement
to produce thin-film solar cells and generate electricity with
Europe's No. 2 power provider, Enel SpA.
For solar cell production, Sharp will form a three-way joint
venture with Italian firm Enel and major Swiss semiconductor
manufacturer STMicroelectronics. They will spend some 42.6 billion
yen to build a plant on land at an existing STMicroelectronics
facility in Sicily. The plant is scheduled to come onstream at the
start of 2011, with annual production capacity to start at
160,000kw. Depending on demand, output capacity will be raised to
480,000kw, enough to power some 130,000 regular households.
Meanwhile, Sharp and Enel will establish a 50-50 joint venture for
generating electricity, with plans to do business in such
Mediterranean countries as Italy, France and Spain. By the end of
2016, they hope to have solar farms generating more than 500,000kw.
Despite agreeing to an alliance back in May 2008, Sharp and Enel
have been slow to finalize a deal because of financial turmoil. And
although thin-film solar cells are suitable for large-scale power
generation, economic woes have led demand for them in Europe to
wane. The duo had originally anticipated generating up to 1 million
kilowatts of electricity a year.
