Norwegian firm's solar cell plant on track

Yang Huiwen, Straits Times 1 Nov 08;

RENEWABLE Energy Corporation's (REC's) plans to build the world's largest solar cell plant in Singapore are on track, despite economic uncertainties.

The Norwegian energy giant held an official ground-breaking ceremony for the first of two phases of the estimated $6.3 billion complex at Tuas South yesterday.

The facility is on target to begin operations in early 2010 and will reach full production capacity by 2012, with annual turnover estimated at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion.

REC expects to employ 1,300 people at the plant, which will make solar wafers, cells and modules for use in generating solar power.

'We intend to continue rolling this project out at the current speed,' said REC chief executive officer Erik Thorsen yesterday.

REC has already committed $3 billion for the first phase, making it one of the largest foreign direct investments and the single biggest investment in the clean energy sector here.

Mr Thorsen said the financing for phase one was done with bank loans and internal funds and was tied up before the global financial turmoil flared up. But funding for phase two has not been finalised as 'we finance every new expansion separately', he said.

He said decision-making and planning for phase two will be done next year, so details about the scale, amount of investment and financing 'still remain to be looked at'.

'When we are making decisions in 2009, we have to look at all aspects of such future investments, including whether demand is being potentially impacted by the financial crisis. We don't know yet,' he said.

Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang, the ceremony's guest of honour, said REC's investment is a sign of the sort of long-term planning that Singapore is banking on.

'Despite the near-term challenges caused by the financial crisis, the long-term prospects for the global clean energy industry remain bright.'

The Government has provided $350 million in funding to develop research and manpower capabilities in the clean energy industry.

Sun still shining for solar plant Hedged by $15b order backlog all the way to 2015
Esther Ng, Today Online 1 Nov 08;

THE economic outlook is far from sunny but that hasn’t stopped a Norwegian company’s plans to build the world’s largest solar manufacturing plant in Singapore.

Work on the $6.3-billion plant officially started on Friday. When completed, it will occupy some 97 hectares of flat reclaimed land — about the size of 132 football fields — on the southernmost tip of Tuas.

Renewable Energy Corporation (REC), a leading solar power company from Norway, will use the plant to build solar wafer, cell and module production for solar panels in two stages by 2012.

Addressing concerns about the current financial uncertainty, REC’s chief executive officer, Mr Erik Thorsen, said $3 billion of bank loans and operating cash flow had already been secured for Phase One of the project, and that the company’s “reasonably robust business model” would see it through.

“We’ve an order backlog of $15 billion from major solar companies worldwide. These are long-term contracts at fixed prices and fixed volumes and we’ve some orders as far ahead as 2015,” he said.

Phase One is on target to begin operations in the first quarter of 2010 and will reach its full capacity by 2012.

About 1,300 jobs are expected to be created from this venture with key management positions to go to Singaporeans.

As for Phase Two, Mr Thorsen said it is too early to reveal production plans and that REC will wait until next year todecide how it will finance the remaining $3.3 billion.

“How much bank financing or equity financing and so on —that’s an issue we’ll look at when the time comes,” he added.