Wacker Chemie AG has begun producing hyperpure polycrystalline silicon at its Nünchritz site, the Munich-based Group announced today.
First deposition reactors at the new production complex have already ramped up production of high-quality polysilicon for sale. The full nominal capacity of some 15,000 metric tons annually is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2012. The start of production is three months earlier than WACKER’s very ambitious original timetable. All in all, WACKER has invested about €900 million in these new production facilities — creating more than 500 new jobs as a result.
Rudolf Staudigl, President and CEO of Wacker Chemie AG, explained to journalists in Nünchritz on Monday: “This expansion of capacity is instrumental to continue meeting our customers’ strong demand for top-quality and highly efficient solar-grade polysilicon in the years to come. Our extensive technological expertise as well as our highly experienced teams of engineers and production staff allowed us to initiate production sooner than expected.”
As previously announced, WACKER decided in March of this year to rise production output at the Nünchritz site from an initial target of 10,000 metric tons to 15,000 metric tons per year. This rise in capacity will be achieved by taking debottlenecking measures within the integrated production network at the site. WACKER’s entire polysilicon output, including that from Nünchritz, is almost completely under contract until the end of 2015.
The new production complex utilizes highly integrated material flows. This means that manufacturing by-products are reprocessed and then reused as starting materials in the value chain. Doing so lowers costs while conserving resources, and, as a consequence, sharpens WACKER’s competitive edge in polysilicon production.
WACKER targets to produce more than 33,000 metric tons of hyperpure polycrystalline silicon in 2011 — making it one of the largest manufacturers in the world. Thanks to its new production complex in Nünchritz and the polysilicon site currently under construction in Charleston (Tennessee, USA), WACKER is strenghtening its position as a leading manufacturer of high-quality semiconductor silicon and solar silicon.
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