Japan’s Showa Shell Sekyu KK (5002.T) plans to spend up to 160 billion yen ($1.7 billion) over five years to expand solar equipment production to 1 gigawatt (GW) a year from a its current level of 80 megawatts (MW), according to a Bloomberg report.
The company, which is a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.L), wants to capture a 10% share of the global solar panel market in five years, up from less than 1% now, company President Jun Arai said at a media briefing.
Showa Shell has two Japanese solar-panel factories in the southern Miyazaki Prefecture. The company has plans to build a third plant for an estimated 100 billion yen to start production in 2011. And it is also considering purchasing and converting a closed Hitachi Ltd. plasma television panel plant in Miyazaki, according to the report.
The report said Show Shell is diversifying from fuel production as Japan’s petroleum demand declines due to increased energy conservation and a shrinking population.
However, Showa Shell is planning an equal investment 160 billion yen in the refining sector, half of which will be used to upgrade facilities.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc announced in March that it does not plan to make any more large investments in wind or solar energy.
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