Polysilicon Project Begins in Sichuan with More to Follow

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Tianwei Sichuan Silicon Company Limited (Sichuan Province) has started a 3,000-ton-per-annum (TPA) polysilicon project in Sichuan's Chengdu City. The $364.9 million project is in the Xinjin Industrial Park and is expected to be finished in 2010.

Tianwei was established in September 2007. Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Company Limited (Baobian) (Baoding City, Hebei Province) holds 51% of Tianwei's $129.5 million capital, and Sichuan Provincial Investment Group Company Limited (Sichuan Investment) (Chengdu) and Sichuan Minjiang River Irrigation Hydropower Company, Limited (Dujiangyan City, Sichuan) hold 35% and 14% of the shares, respectively.

Besides the Chengdu project, Baobian will invest $301.4 million in another polysilicon project in Leshan City of Sichuan. The Leshan project will also have a capacity of 3,000 TPA and is expected to run from 2010. Leshan Electric Power Company Limited (Leshan City) will hold 51% of the shares, leaving the remaining 49% for Baobian.

Baobian and Sichuan Investment have cooperated in a 1,260-TPA polysilicon project in Leshan City, which was put into operation in February 2006.

With the aforementioned capacities, Baobian will be able to produce 7,260 tons of polysilicon in 2010 but still 740 tons lower than the basic need of Baobian's other divisions.

Baobian has invested $411.0 million in a polysilicon downstream project in October 2007 in Chengdu's Shuangliu County. The Shuangliu project will produce 200-megawatt (MW) ingot slices, 50-MW solar photovoltaic modules and 100-MW solar cells.

China's polysilicon production could double before 2010. Sichuan has become China's most important polysilicon research and production base, said Yin Jiaxu, Deputy General Manager of China South Industries Group Corporation (Beijing), a military equipment producer cooperating with Baotian in the Shuangliu project.

Since June of 2006, at least 10 companies have announced plans to build polysilicon projects in Sichuan, mainly in Chengdu and Leshan cities.

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