Danen Technology and Walsin Lihwa Holdings plan to jointly set up a solar wafer plant in Liyang, Jiangsu Province, China, with investment totaling US$500 million, according to China media reports. The pair recently signed an investment MOU with the local government.

Danen and Walsin will allocate US$200 million for the first phase of investment, the reports indicated. Initially, the joint-venture plant will be capable of producing 1GWp, with an aim to expand annual output to 2.5GWp, the reports revealed.

In response, Danen said it did attend an MOU signing ceremony, but cooperation details will not be determined until after the Lunar New Year. Danen also noted the company's fundamental goal for 2011 is to reach a total capacity of 520MWp by the end of the year.

Danen earlier disclosed plans to expand capacity at its second wafer plant, which just came online in the third quarter of 2010. Annual capacity at the plant will jump to 400MWp by the end of 2011 from only 90MWp in 2010.

In other news, industry sources have commented that the reported joint-venture plant between Danen and Walsin could be an indicator that Danen is able to gain financial support from Walsin. Currently Walsin's PCB maker subsidiary HannStar Board owns a stake in Danen.