In the port city of Gij ó n in Asturias, Spain, a long dormant industrial land is being injected with new green energy. In March 2026, emerging energy company Sunwafe obtained a land permit here and plans to build a giant solar silicon wafer factory. This is not only an industrial project with an investment of 1.4 billion euros, but also a crucial step for Europe to regain control of its own destiny in the core field of clean energy.

This enterprise, jointly empowered by a Chinese background and the European innovation energy agency EIT InnoEnergy, received a special subsidy of 200 million euros from the Spanish government in June of the same year, reducing the initial investment of the project to 670 million euros. The project has been entrusted to the local engineering company Tresca Ingenier í a for overall development and settled in the local logistics and industrial activity area.

According to the plan, the factory is expected to start production in early 2029 and reach an annual output of 2.5 billion silicon wafers, corresponding to a photovoltaic capacity of 20 gigawatts, by 2030. Its products will be directly supplied to battery and component manufacturers in Europe and North America. Sunwafe CEO Michael Pinto stated that the company has secured a framework supply agreement for initial production capacity, and the final investment decision will be made in February 2027, followed by immediate construction.

Pinto pointed out that this is a decisive moment for the energy transition in Europe and globally. Through win-win agreements with Asian partners, Sunwafe's goal is to establish an advanced manufacturing base in Europe with global competitiveness, promote the return of core links in the photovoltaic industry, and make it a core industrial capability in Europe. The establishment of the company itself was aimed at reducing Europe's external dependence on key strategic links in the clean energy value chain.Editor/Yang Meiling