Shell: Subsidiary plans 1 GW solar-panel plant

Tokyo, Japan - Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary Showa Shell Sekiyu plans to invest 100 billion yen (about $938 million), in a solar-panel plant. The factory will produce panels with the cumulative annual capacity to produce 1 gigawatt of power.

The location of the new plant remains undisclosed, but rumors say the company is considering areas of Japan, Europe, and the Middle East. Equally unknown is the financial source for the project. Showa came into the solar-power business last year, with its first 20-megawatt-capacity photovoltaic plant in the southern city of Miyazaki. In August, it announced plans on building a second factory, with a capacity to produce 60 megawatts.

Source: IWR Online, 04 Jul 2008