Green Car Congress: Hydro and Umicore Create JV for Solar-Grade Silicon

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Hydro and Umicore Create JV for Solar-Grade Silicon

1 July 2007

Hydro, the Norwegian oil, energy and aluminum company, and the Belgian company Umicore are creating a joint venture for the production of solar-grade silicon used in the production of solar cells. The new company will be named HyCore and will have its headquarters in Porsgrunn, Norway.

HyCore’s first step will be to construct a pilot plant at Hydro’s industrial park at Herøya in Porsgrunn. The pilot plant, which will be completed in 2008, will have an annual capacity of around 20 tonnes of solar-grade silicon. A budget of € 26 million is foreseen for this phase. Provided the pilot programme proves successful, the intention is to construct a larger facility, also in Herøya, with the capacity to produce industrial scale volumes by 2010.

Metallurgical silicon is found in abundance, but the demand for solar-grade purity has risen substantially, in line with the growth of the photovoltaics industry. Economical limitations of the traditional conversion technology have led to a shortage of solar-grade silicon, which has spurred the development of new technologies.

HyCore will utilize proprietary technology that Hydro and Umicore have developed for the conversion of metallurgical silicon to solar-grade silicon. The chosen technology approach is significantly more energy-efficient compared to the traditional processes and allows for a closed-loop approach whereby all major process consumables are re-used. Several patent applications have been filed by the partners.

Umicore and Hydro started their joint technical development cooperation approximately 15 months ago. The two companies will own 51 and 49 percent of HyCore respectively. Paul Mijlemans, formerly the head of Umicore’s semiconductor wafer business for space photovoltaics, will be responsible for the management of the new company.

This joint venture is Hydro’s third initiative within solar energy since November 2006 when it invested in the solar energy company Norsun. Norsun will open a factory producing monocrystalline silicon wafers in Årdal, Norway. Hydro has also invested in the US company Ascent Solar, which is developing flexible, thin-film solar modules based on efficient roll-to-roll processing.

Hydro is the one of the world’s largest offshore oil companies, operating 13 oil and gas installations.

July 1, 2007 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)