Q-Cells AG (QCE; ISIN DE0005558662) and its partners in the Joint Venture EverQ GmbH–Evergreen Solar, Inc. and REC Renewable Energy Corporation ASA–have approved significant expansion plans for EverQ and agreed to start preparations for an IPO of EverQ immediately.
EverQ will build a third integrated wafer, cell and module production facility at its company site in Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Germany), according to a release. The new EverQ facility will increase EverQ’s production capacity from 100 MWp to 180 MWp the company says.. The partners will invest nearly EUR 150 million in the new EverQ III facility, which is expected to start production in the first quarter of 2009.
The final timing of the IPO is still to be decided. As part of the preparations for the IPO, the management and organization of EverQ will be significantly strengthened to enable the transformation of EverQ into an independent company with its own branding, according to a release. The sales and marketing organization will be expanded as modules will be distributed under the new brand in the future.
To support the further growth ambitions of EverQ, REC says it has offered an additional supply agreement for polysilicon which should enable EverQ to increase its production capacity to 600 MWp by the year 2012. The supply agreement totals approximately 4,000 MT delivered at market terms. Annual shipments under the new agreement will peak at slightly more than 700 MT and will run from 2010 until 2015, according to the announcement.
To secure the independent development, EverQ has a proprietary right to the current technology base of Evergreen and will have a right to license all new material technology development by Evergreen on the String Ribbon(TM) platform over the 5 years following the IPO, the companies said. EverQ says it will build a R&D team to complement this access to new technology with own improvements.
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