04/25/2017 14h46

BYD opens solar panel factory in Campinas built with the support from Investe SP

With an investment of BRL 150 million in the plant, the company will create 360 jobs; on the same day, BYD announced the national production of electric bus chassis, with an investment of BRL 50 million and the potential to create 161 jobs by 2022

Investe São Paulo
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    The factory is creating over 300 jobs

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    BYD was the first company to produce and sell 100% buses in Brazil

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    The painels can last 50 years

BYD, a global giant specializing in clean energy – rechargeable batteries, electric vehicles, photovoltaic solar panels, LED, energy storage systems and IT – opened on Thursday, April 6, in Campinas, a solar panel plant, becoming the first in Brazil to offer zero ecosystem projects. 

The director of Investe São Paulo, Ermínio Lucci, represented the state government during the event.“We have given priority to projects that help the state make the energy sources more sustainable, such as BYD.We assist companies especially by providing strategic information and guidance on environmental licensing, infrastructure and taxes,” said the agency’s director, Ermínio Lucci.The Agency is associated with the State Department of Economic Development, Science, Technology and Innovation.

“BYD is a high tech company and our intention is to bring the best of global technology to Brazil, creating new jobs and generating innovation in Brazil,” said Tyler Li, President of BYD Brazil.“Now, we are able to deliver a complete solution:whenever we sell electric vehicles, the modeling will include the solar panel and energy storage system.This way, buyers will be able to pay off their investment in the system with their savings over a period from 5 to 7 years.After that period, buyers will no longer incur costs to generate their own energy,” said Adalberto Maluf, marketing, sustainability and new business director of the multinational.

The unit, which received an initial investment of BRL 150 million, will have a production capacity of 200 MW and will generate 360 direct jobs.BYD solar panels are already accredited by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) in the credit facility for machinery and equipment (Finame).

The first production line of photovoltaic solar modules is located in the same industrial complex of the production line of electric bus chassis, which was opened in 2015, and whose production is now nationalized – the installed capacity for the unit with three shifts is approximately 720 chassis/year, with increased inclusion of local content.

“As soon as they are in operation, the 720 electric buses will represent a reduction in the emission of air pollutants of 81 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2 – greenhouse gas), as well as 8 tons of particulate matter, 440 tons of NOx, 90 tons of CO and 13 tons of HC, all local pollutants that negatively impact people’s health,” says Maluf.

Marcos Cardellini, local development manager, says that BYD will invest over BRL 13 million only in engineering and local tooling in partnership with leading global automotive systems suppliers between 2018 and 2022 and BRL 50 million in infrastructure and production processes of the plant.“There are over 100 items with technical studies of local application with analysis of the engineering of Brazil, USA and China and over 200 local suppliers consulted and other sources are in prospection.This year, we have 20% of local content. Next year, we will doubled it to 40%.In 2019, we increase it to 50%, in 2020 to 60% and by 2021 we will have 70% of local content of body/chassis structure,” says Cardellini.

The company was the first to produce and sell all-electric bus in Brazil and was also the world’s first to produce all-electric garbage trucks.In the country, BYD also sells all-electric cars for corporate fleets and taxis, as well as integrated logistics solutions such as electric forklifts (awarded in 2016 as the best in the world by IFOY), light commercial vehicles and all-electric trucks.

The company’s plans for Brazil also includes investing in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for new monorail projects, an area in which BYD also operates in global markets.“We are very happy with this historical moment, especially because we are launching our factories in Campinas, an innovative city driven by the same dreams of BYD,” concludes BYD president in Brazil, Tyler Li.

Double Glass - exclusive technology The solar panels produced in Brazil will feature an exclusive and pioneering high technology – Double Glass.This model increases energy production by 7% when compared to traditional modules, brings more durability (50 years) and presents lower degradation of the product - 0.3% versus 0.7% of solar panels with EVA -, as well as bringing a product free of micro-cracks, hail-proof and PID-free (potential-induced degradation).“We will bring to Brazil the best technology in photovoltaic solar panels available in the world.With local production, we will help consolidate the distributed generation market,” says Maluf.

Investment support The construction of this new unit in Campinas also relied on the support provided by the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil).Since 2012, when the negotiations began, to the final decision to build the electric bus chassis unit and the solar panel plant, Apex-Brazil assisted the company’s management with strategic information for decision-making.

“Over the course of these four years, we have used our knowledge to help the company in key issues related to incentives and analysis of operating costs, and in the dialogue with federal and state entities,” says Apex-Brazil Investment Manager, Maria Luisa Cravo.Currently, Apex-Brazil has been assisting the company in fundraising, in the analysis of potential Brazilian suppliers, and in the interface with other federal entities, such as the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications  (MCTIC) and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC).

About BYD

Global giant specializing in clean energy, BYD was founded in 1995 and rapidly became the world’s largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries, energy storage systems, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and trucks – ranking first in global sales in 2015 and 2016, surpassing Nissan, Tesla, BMW and electric buses.The company is present on five continents, 45 countries and 170 cities and among its partners is Warren Buffet.With 230,000 employees across 24 factories around the globe (15,000 engineers-researchers), the Chinese BYD is the second largest producer of components for mobile phones, tablets and laptops in the world.In Brazil, it opened its first plant in Campinas, São Paulo, in 2015, for the production of electric bus and sale of vehicles and forklifts.On April 6, 2017, it opened its second plant, for the production of solar panels.