Penang, which saw a big drop in investments last year, suffered another blow with Bosch Solar Energy Malaysia Sdn Bhd cancelling its plans to build a new RM2.2bil solar facility in the state.
“Bosch’s board has decided to discontinue its global crystalline photovoltaic business for the manufacture of ingots, wafers and solar cell modules,” investPenang executive committeechairman Datuk Simon Wong said in a statement yesterday.
He did not state when the company had informed investPenang of its decision.
Wong said that the company had bought a site at the Batu KawanIndustrial Park in December 2011 after an extensive global site selection.
“They had planned to start construction of the new facility in the first quarter of 2012 and begin operations by early 2013,” he said.
“It even paid the land purchase according to schedule, reflecting its commitment to the project,” Wong added.
He said Bosch had, however, announced last year that due to global overcapacity, price declines and major shakeouts in the industry, the project would be delayed.
Wong said the company’s decision was unavoidable.
He said investPenang would continue to facilitate the company in moving forward with its decision.
“This phenomenon of global industry consolidation and restructuring is not new to the Penang industry.
“The Photonics and the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) industry also experienced a similar fate involving major global consolidation and restructuring as a result of new technological advances and cost factors,” Wong said.
It was earlier reported that Penang suffered a 73% drop in total investments from RM9.11bil in 2011 to only RM2.47bil last year.
InvestPenang is a non-profit entity of the state Government, established in November 2004 with the sole purpose of promoting investments in Penang.
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