Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), today announced that it recently acquired a minority stake in Asia Silicon Co., Ltd. from an existing shareholder for approximately $8.1 million.
Suntech previously entered into an agreement to purchase
polysilicon from Asia Silicon with a total value of up to $1.5 billion
over a seven-year period.
”We are very pleased to cement our relationship with Asia Silicon,” said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s Chairman and CEO. ”Asia Silicon has all the makings of a world class polysilicon producer due to the utilization of the most advanced production equipment, their expert technical team and industry leading cost structure. By combining Asia Silicon’s low-cost polysilicon with Suntech’s high conversion efficiency technology, we believe that we will be able to achieve grid parity in many parts of the world within the next two or three years.”
Asia Silicon is in the ramp up stage of a state-of-the-art polysilicon plant in Qinghai, China. Asia Silicon initiated production of polysilicon at the end of 2008 and targets to reach 2,000 metric tons of annual production capacity by mid-2009.
The polysilicon plant utilizes the well-proven trichlorosilane-based advanced Siemens production process with comprehensive recycling system. Up to 80% of the electricity used at the facility will be supplied from renewable energy hydropower sources with a pricing structure that is among the lowest industrial electricity rates in China, the companies said in a release.
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