Norwegian solar company REC (REC.OL) on Wednesday officially opened one of the world’s largest integrated wafer, cell and module manufacturing facilities in Tuas, Singapore. This milestone is the largest single investment ever made by REC, the largest clean tech investment ever made in Singapore at 2.5 billion Singapore dollars, and the third largest foreign green field investment ever made by a Norwegian company.
REC said the facility was built 20% below budget. Initially volumes of 740 megawatts (MW) for wafers, 550 MW for cells, and 590 MW for modules were announced. The new capacity target for modules is 800 MW in 2012, representing an increase of 35% compared to the design capacity.
Some 200 sites were considered before Singapore was selected as the location for the complex covering 321,000 square meters. Some 8,000 workers were involved in the construction. The plant has impressive environmental features having received the Gold Green Mark Award for environmental performance, ISO 9001, in addition to having waste water recycling and energy recovery systems in place. The facility has created around 1500 solar jobs with recruitment continuing.
The production costs for the facility are less than earlier REC plants, targeting a full cost of EUR 0.97 per watt by the end of 2011 including research and development and sales and marketing costs.
The facility produces more than 190,000 modules per month with a competitive cell efficiency target of 16.8% by 2011, an improvement over earlier production.
“We are confident with the completion of REC’s plant that solar is here to stay and will be an important energy source in the coming years. REC’s high performance solar technology and Singapore’s global competitiveness together create a center of excellence that will make smart energy for a cleaner future more accessible,” said Ole Enger, CEO, REC.
This is the second project the company has completed in 2010, with a new silicon production facility recently opening in the US.
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