OSL Renewable Energy Corp., the largest maker of polysilicon used in solar panels, will invest almost 13 billion kroner (US$2.5 billion) to increase production of wafers, cells and modules at a plant in Singapore.
The investment will be financed through debt and cash and the expansion is expected to generate as much as 11 billion kroner in revenue starting in 2012, the Hoevik, Norway-based company said in a statement on its website yesterday.
Production will begin in 2010 and reach full capacity of 740 megawatts of wafers, 550 megawatts of solar cells and 590 megawatts of modules by 2012. The investment is the first of “several planned development phases,'' the company said.
“Our entry into Singapore ensures continued revenue growth beyond the significant growth to come from all the ongoing capacity expansions across all REC's business activities,'' chief executive officer Erik Thorsen said in the statement.
Based on the expansion, Renewable Energy should be producing about 2,400 megawatts of wafers, 780 wafers of cells and 740 megawatts of modules in 2012, he said.
The investment decision for the next phase is expected in 2009, the company said.
Renewable Energy makes cells and wafers for the solar industry to exploit demand for energy that doesn't emit carbon dioxide, a gas blamed for global warming. Polysilicon is purified silicon used to make electronic and solar components.
The company will also invest up to 400 million kroner to upgrade production capacity at Heroya, Norway by about 100 megawatts, the company said in a separate statement on Hugin yesterday.
