(Yicai) Sept. 6 -- Shares of Hunan Huamin Holdings rose after the newcomer to China's photovoltaic industry said it secured its third large solar wafer order.

Huamin's Shenzhen-traded stock [SHE: 300345] closed 4.62 percent higher at CNY9.51 (USD1.3) today.

China's Astronergy New Energy Technology will purchase 5 gigawatts of silicon wafers per year for the three years between this month and August 2026 from Huamin, the Changsha-based supplier announced late yesterday, citing a contract it signed with its client.

The parties will negotiate the price every month, Huamin added, noting that the order will likely bring the company business revenue of about CNY6.3 billion (USD863 million), according to the current market price.

Huamin announced it had received CNY5.5 billion and CNY4.4 billion solar wafer orders on Aug. 16 and Aug. 22, respectively.

Huamin operates a plant that produces solar silicon rods and wafers specifically designed to make advanced high-efficiency N-type heterojunction solar cells in China's southwestern Yunnan province with an annual production capacity of 10 GW. The plant's second phase, which is expected to add annual capacities of 10 GW of silicon rods and 4 GW of silicon wafers, will be completed in November.

Moreover, Huamin has a factory under construction in eastern Anhui province that will reach an annual capacity of 10 GW of high-efficiency solar wafers once completed and put into operation in November.

Huamin landing three large high-efficiency solar wafer orders shows that the supply of wafers for N-type heterojunction solar cells is still relatively tight despite the overall PV industry's overcapacity issue.

The growth potential for the new technology is huge, as the newly developed high-efficiency solar cells accounted for less than 3 percent of China's total PV cell production capacity in 2021, while the figure is expected to reach 40 percent by 2025 and exceed 75 percent by 2030, according to data from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association.

Editor: Futura Costaglione