Silicor Materials to build large-scale solar silicon plant in Iceland

Silicor Materials, a manufacturer of solar silicon and a producer of aluminum by-products, has announced that it has selected Grundartangi in Iceland as the site for the company’s first large-scale solar silicon production facility.

Accordig to Ms. Theresa Jester, CEO of Silicor Materials, Grundartangi is a world-class manufacturing and transportation infrastructure, and Iceland provides low-cost renewable energy, enabling Silicor to produce the only truly green silicon in the world. Further, Iceland ranks among the top aluminum producers worldwide, providing Silicor with a built-in market for its premium aluminum-based products.

Silicor Materials has engaged with an Icelandic bank lead the debt financing for the plant. Currently, Silicor’s executives are active discussions with Iceland’s Ministry of Industries and Innovation to finalize an incentives package. The facility in Iceland will have a nameplate capacity of 16,000 metric tons, with the ability to yield up to 19,000 metric tons of solar silicon each year. This will create as many as 400 full-time jobs in addition to up to 100 construction positions.

To date, the silicon of Silicor Materials has powered more than 20 million solar cells, now installed and generating clean electricity worldwide. According to the company,  the manufacturing process requires two-thirds less energy than conventional processes and uses no toxic chemicals, allowing manufacturing facilities to be sited in light industrial parks. Silicor’s solar silicon is produced specifically for the solar sector, as compared to conventional processes, which were originally produced for the electronics industry and later modified to serve the solar sector.Additionally, Silicor’s premium aluminum products— master alloys and polyaluminum chloride —are feedstocks for the automotive and wastewater treatment industries, respectively.

Silicor has obtained heads of terms, and a letter of intent from two Icelandic power companies, Landsvirkjun and Orka Náttúrunnar (a subsidiary of Reykjavík Energy), to supply 100 percent renewable energy to the operations. Pending final negotiations, Silicor aims to break ground later this year (2014) and bring the plant online in 2016.