Aug 21 2010
Virasa Technologies Inc. and Calensia BV announced today that they have formed in February 2010 SilicoTek BV to carry on their planned investment of an integrated Solar Complex in Suez, Egypt.
The initial phase of the complex will include mono-silane and Polysilicon production units with annual capacities of 600 and 2500 TPA respectively and a solar module production unit with annual capacity of 50 MW.
The plant will be built on 210,000 m2 in the first industrial zone North West of the Gulf of Suez which will allow for a next phase of expansion. Additional 110,000 m2 will be reserved for complementary downstream investments in the solar value chain. The target Mechanical Completion and the Plant start up to commence in Q4 2012.
The plant will utilize Virasa’s state of the art technology where SilicoTek have been granted an exclusive license in Egypt. Virasa and SilicoTek will jointly build a state of the art R&D center to develop and commercially demonstrate the next generation silicon based technologies. This project will mark the first deployment of this advanced technology in the Middle East and Africa after three highly successful deployments in Asia. This project will also mark the first commercial production of Silane and Polysilicon in the region enabling Egypt to join the limited number of countries worldwide with Polysilicon production capability and will serve as platform for further Solar and Electronic industry investments.
The production facility will create 480 direct job opportunities in addition to the approximately 1000 indirect jobs expected to be created in the various support industries. The construction phase of the project will utilize up to 2000 construction jobs.
"The project benefits from and supports Egypt’s strategy to identify and encourage alternative energy sources that are not dependent on petroleum resources and do not contribute to the budget's subsidy burden. It is in line with the country’s objective to reach around 20 % of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020. It is also in line with the direction to diversify the local industrial base with new knowledge intense High Tech industries and the Egyptian Government’s support for such projects, said Dr. Wahid Tawfik, CEO of SilicoTek B.V.
"The planned R&D center will be integrated with the production facility’s infrastructure and will create exciting collaboration opportunities with Egyptian and International Universities and Research Institutes. The future technology generated in the center will insure the long term global competitiveness of this project", said Mr. Sanjeev Lahoti, CEO of Virasa.
The front end planning for this project started in 2008 where over 10 potential production sites were evaluated in the EMEA region. The final selection reflects the excellent infrastructure and logistics of the site, the availability of highly skilled manpower and the inherent competitiveness and friendly investment environment of Egypt. The project was granted in December 2009 the key electricity supply allocation. All other key approvals and authorizations are in their final stages.
Source: http://www.calensia.com/