Sharp's Wrexham Plant Improves Global Position
It appears that the Wrexham based PV manufacturing plant that now serves as Sharp Energy Solution's European base has not only avoided recent cost cutting by the Japanese giant but is currently running at its near full capacity of 400 MW. Whilst competitors are closing doors due to over supply, falling prices and uncertainty stemming from legal disputes.
Peter Thiele, executive vice president at Sharp Energy Solutions Europe stated in a press release, "˜"We see continuous demand for photovoltaic modules in Europe. Our European factory, located in Wales, is operating at near maximum capacity, also supporting demand from Japan.
"The focus in Europe lies on the home installation market, with valuable support for installers in the residential segment. Our position as a global electronics company helped us to balance the impact of the PV market dynamics. As a result, our business has been less affected by recent market volatility compared to competitors."
Sharp set about restructuring its European operations a couple of years ago and at the time there was much conjecture that they would close up much of its European operations. The company has cut back or closed other operations around the world but it has always maintained that the Wrexham European headquarters was integral to their global plans.
The company moved the focus for European operations to residential and this move seems to have paid off. Retrospectively it now appears prescient with the changing nature of European subsidies but at the time some commentators felt the Japanese giant had gotten in wrong.
Another key market that has been developing and ensuring increased output for Wrexham is the growing Japanese market. The Wales based plant is helping to meet demand in Sharp's home territory. Analysts expect the Japanese demand to continue to increase as the fallout from the Fukushima disaster continues to be felt.
With plans to diversify the Wrexham plant with LED and energy storage manufacturing the plant has increased its importance in the company's global plans.
