The German engineering company said in a statement today the plant in Batu Kawan would be an essential part of its globalisation target to further cut costs and increase energy yields, Bernama reported today.
“In order to achieve economies of scale in production costs, Bosch is currently evaluating the most technologically advantageous direction for the plant.
“We will therefore be adjusting the commencement of the construction to a later time in 2012,” Robert Bosch (South East Asia) Pte Ltd president and managing director Martin Hayes said.
Hayes, who is also managing director of Robert Bosch Sdn Bhd, also stressed that the Stuttgart-based company would push ahead with the internationalisation of solar cells despite the current difficult market conditions.
“Bosch is convinced that photovoltaics is a business with long-term potential, and will play a major part in the progressive move to new sources of energy,” he said.
Solar energy division chief Siegfried Dais told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung yesterday Bosch will freeze construction of its €520 million (RM2.05 billion) solar panel plant in Penang, which would have been the company’s largest.
He told the German national daily the company will need to “reorient” itself technically in the face of industry cost pressures.
“If you invest too early, you run the risk of possibly settling for a less advantageous technology path,” he was quoted as saying.
Construction of the plant in Batu Kawan, Penang, which has a capacity of 640MW per year, was scheduled to begin at the end of last year, with production to start in 2013.
Bosch’s decision to hold off on the fully-integrated manufacturing plant, which would have served its Asean operations, comes after the firm missed profitability targets last year as special charges ate into earnings.
This was despite an 8.8 per cent rise in full-year revenue to €51.4 billion (RM202.63 billion).
Franz Fehrenbach, chief executive of the Stuttgart-based company, said last month Bosch booked an earnings charge of around €1 billion (RM3.94 billion) in 2011 due to upfront costs for its push into the fields of electric mobility and renewable energy, as well as currency fluctuations.
He also said that Bosch will streamline its cost base and lower its break-even point enough to offset any potential slump in revenue in the face of lingering global economic uncertainty.
Photovoltaic manufacturers such as Q-Cells, First Solar and Solarworld have been moving production to Asia for cost efficiency and to tap into the region’s growing market, which is expected to expand by 30 per cent annually.
However, prices for solar panels and raw materials fell last year as manufacturers in China ramped up production, leading to excess capacity after European governments cut back on subsidies.
Bosch has been present in Malaysia since 1923, with offices in Selangor, Perak and Penang. In 2010, its Malaysian operation contributed RM555 million to the group’s earnings.
