Shining Brightly
OCI (CEO Lee Woo-hyun) is a global leader in the photovoltaic (PV) power generation Market. According to 2014 sales, OCI signed an Energy Management Contract (EMC) with Bridgestone Corp., the top global tire company, to build a 4.6MW PV plant. With this contract, OCI will start to gather momentum for advancing its solar power business in China.
On Sept. 1, at the Bridgestone plant located in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, OCI and Bridgestone signed an EMC amid the gathering of Migita Hirotaka, the general manager for the Chinese market; Kang Hak-ji, the president of the OCI PV power plant in Wuxi; and government officials of Wuxi City. The contract is about the construction of a plant on the roof of the Bridgestone plant, which stretches across 90,000 m2.
The EMC is a tripartite contract including the Wuxi City government in addition to OCI and Bridgestone Corp. OCI is responsible for the PV power plant construction and operation. Bridgestone, on the other hand, is providing the land and the building. The Wuxi municipal government is providing licensing and administrative support. With this agreement, OCI expects to generate total revenue of US$ 1.900 billion for the next 25 years, through supplying electricity to Bridgestone Corp.
This PV plant project is the first one since OCI signed an MOU with the Wuxi municipal government to develop a PV power plant with a capacity of 200 MW in Jan.
In addition, OCI is planning to complete the construction of a 10MW PV power plant in Hongze District, Huaian City using a 12 million m2 crab farm.
Meanwhile, OCI has been pursuing a project of constructing solar power plants with a combined capacity of 20MW in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. To this end, in May last year, OCI completed construction of a PV power plant with a capacity of 2.5 MW, and late this year, the company is planning to construct a 2.9 MW plant. In addition, OCI is planning to construct PV power plants in Yantai City, Shandong province that together will generate 25 MW of PV power. Part of this project is building a 6 MW-scale PV power plant in Yantai City.
Lee Woo-hyun, CEO of OCI, said, “China is emerging as the world’s largest PV market, and we are working to secure business opportunities from the growing market.”
Based on its experience as a successful bidder to win North America’s largest PV project, the 400 MW Alamo PV project, OCI is strengthening its presence in China and Korea. OCI also plans to expand the market to India, Africa, and other newly-emerging solar energy markets.
According to China’s National Energy Authority (NEA), the scale of solar energy plants in China is expected to increase 67 percent to post 17.8 GW, up from last year’s 10.6 GW.