Verditek plc （LON: VDTK）， a London-based company focused on commercialising lightweight, flexible solar panels, on Tuesday unveiled a tie-up for a 1-GW factory in Italy.
The company has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding （MoU） with Net Zero Valley （NZV）， an Italian investment holding of global alternative fund manager and private equity firm SerendipEquity Group, for a 50:50 joint venture to invest in a new 1-GW plant for the production of ultra-lightweight solar panels. The facility will be built on a NZV campus in southern Italy.
The scale of the contemplated factory is hoped to reduce the unit cost of the panels, allowing them to compete in the mainstream photovoltaic （PV） market.
NZV will provide the land, buildings and all funding for the plant. The proposed joint venture will have access to an on-site factory, while the delivery of machinery is expected to take about nine months. The product will be mainly aimed at the agri-voltaic and building integrated photovoltaic （BIPV） markets in the EU and North America.
NZV intends to create a research and development （R&D） and manufacturing campus in eastern Sicily, which will be concentrated on decarbonisation technologies for the real estate and automotive sectors.
The announcement sent Verditek’s shares surging. Verditek chairman Lord David Willetts said it could potentially transform the outlook for the company, which has some manufacturing activities in Italy.
“It would provide the opportunity to achieve essential critical mass, significantly scaling our manufacturing capability and allow the opportunity to carve out an increased share of the fast-growing, mainstream PV market in Europe with our ultra-lightweight panels,” he added.
