A Leading Supplier of High-purity Polysilicon
Hanwha Solutions announced on Nov. 18 that it will acquire a 16.67 percent stake in REC Silicon ASA, a leading producer of high-purity polysilicon, for a total of US$160.47 million.
Headquartered in Fornebu, Norway, REC Silicon ASA, is running two polysilicon plants in the United States, supplying high-purity polysilicon and silicon gases to the solar and electronics industries worldwide.
The stake Hanwha Solutions will secure is equal to that of the current largest shareholder, Aker Horizon.
Hanwha Solutions wants to acquire a stake in REC Silicon as a growing number of local customers want it to supply solar modules made of U.S. polysilicon. REC Silicon's factories in Washington and Montana have a combined capacity of 20,000 tons of polysilicon, including 18,000 tons for solar power and 2,000 tons for semiconductors. In particular, its plant in Washington utilizes eco-friendly energy based on hydroelectric power to produce polysilicon that does not leave carbon footprint.
Currently, most U.S. solar polysilicon producers have virtually suspended their factories due to China's anti-dumping tariffs on U.S. polysilicon. However, if a U.S. solar industry promotion bill is passed, the REC Silicon plants are expected to resume operations.
Hanwha Solutions is expected to accelerate its penetration of the U.S. market, where solar demand is expected to shoot up in the future. Earlier, President Joe Biden declared carbon neutrality in 2050, saying that he would ramp up the proportion of solar power generation from 3.4 percent in 2021 to 40 percent by 2035. In order to achieve the goal, additional solar modules should be installed to produce electric power of 30GW to 60 GW per year.
Hanwha Solutions operates a module factory in Georgia that can produce modules of 1.7 GW. The plant accounts for 27 percent of the module production (6.2 GW) in the United States and is the No. 1 player in the local residential solar module market.
Meanwhile, Hanwha Solutions will invest about 1.5 trillion won in Korea by 2025 to expand production facilities and research high-efficiency cells. The company plans to focus on converting production lines for high-power products and researching perovskite-based tandem cells, which are a next-generation technology.