KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — Robert Bosch GmbH’s multi-million ringgit downpayment on land in Penang for its solar panel plant shows the engineering firm’s commitment to investing in the state, Lim Guan Eng said today.

The Penang chief minister pointed out the RM11.6 million payment was 20 per cent of the purchase price of the land in Batu Kawan, where the Stuttgart-based company plans to build the facility.

Lim (picture) added that Bosch will launch its solar panels in Penang on February 25, which, he said, was further proof of the firm’s commitment to the state and Malaysia.

Bosch stressed yesterday it remained committed to investing in the proposed €520 million (RM2.05 billion) solar panel plant following reports that construction of the site has been frozen.

Construction of the plant in Batu Kawan, which will have a capacity of 640MW per year, was scheduled to begin at the end of last year, with production to start in 2013.

Bosch said in a statement the plant would be a key part of its globalisation efforts to further cut costs and increase energy yields.

“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 company would push ahead with the internationalisation of solar cells despite the current difficult market conditions.

Solar energy division chief Siegfried Dais told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Tuesday that Bosch will freeze construction of the solar panel plant, 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.

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.

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.