The announcement of the plant’s opening came during this week’s Clean Energy Expo Asia, for which REC served as a major sponsor. The plant also represents the third largest international green field investment ever made by a Norwegian company.
“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,” said REC CEO Ole Enger. “REC’s high performance solar technology and Singapore’s global competitiveness together create a centre of excellence that will make smart energy for a cleaner future more accessible.”
The facility, one of the world’s largest manufacturing integrated wafer, cells, and solar modules, was built 20 percent below budget, the company said in a statement.
REC said initial production volumes will be 740 MW for wafers, 550 MW for cells, and 590 MW for modules, with the capacity target for modules climbing to 800 MW in 2012 -- a 35 percent increase compared to the design capacity.
Some 200 sites were considered before Singapore was selected as the location for the state of the art complex covering 321,000 square metres. The plant’s environmental features have 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 production costs for the facility are less than earlier REC plants, targeting a full cost of €0.97/watt by the end of 2011 including research and development and sales and marketing costs.
Most of the savings REC has achieved in research and product development, supply chain, operations, quality control, logistics and customer support have come through efficiencies gain through the integration of processes.
To date the facility has created roughly 1,500 jobs, but recruitment is ongoing, the company said.
In addition to announcing the formal opening of the plant, REC also announced that it’s already created is millionth module, ahead of plan and before reaching full capacity. The module is part of the REC Peak Energy Series, which is the first product manufactured at Tuas.
The module delivers more power per square metre due to several design improvements, resulting in approximately seven percent improved energy output, the company said.
The facility produces more than 190,000 modules per month with a competitive cell efficiency target of 16.8 percent by 2011, an improvement over earlier production.
The REC Peak Energy Series is already installed in more than twelve countries. The modules produced in 2011 at the new REC facility could throughout their lifetime offset 25 million tons of CO2 from coal fired power plants or produce enough electricity to meet the yearly energy needs of 150,000 Singaporean households.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was joined by Leo Yip, chairman of the nation’s Economic Development Board, and some 500 guests who attended the opening which was followed by a plant tour.
“We congratulate REC on the successful completion and opening of its world-scale solar manufacturing plant,” Yip said. “This marks a major milestone in the development of the clean energy industry in Singapore. We are also delighted that REC has made Singapore a home for its solar activities by siting its best in class manufacturing and R&D operations here.
“EDB will continue to work with REC and other industry partners to strengthen the clean energy industry ecosystem through initiatives in research and innovation, as well as development of specialised manpower and supplier base," he said.
The plant is the second world-class projected completed by REC in 2010, the first being a new silicon production facility recently opened in the US.
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