HSC and Dow Corning Shining Today
December 16, 2008
The
Hemlock Semiconductor group, which includes two
Dow Corning Corporation joint ventures,
Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation and Hemlock Semiconductor LLC,
will invest up to $3.0 billion to expand polycrystalline silicon
(polysilicon) production, a key raw material used to manufacture solar
cells and semiconductor devices.
This expansion includes
an initial investment of $1.2 billion to build a new site in
Clarksville, Tennessee, and up to $1 billion to expand current
operations in Hemlock, Mich. Combined, the new Clarksville facility and
the expanded Hemlock operations may add up to 34,000 metric tons of
polysilicon capacity and ultimately as much as $3.0 billion in
investments to support the fast-growing solar industry. Construction of
both the Michigan expansion and the new Tennessee site will begin
immediately.
In total, the Hemlock
Semiconductor group has announced investments of up to $4.5 billion in
the past five years to increase polysilicon capacity to meet the growing
needs of the solar industry. By 2015, the joint ventures will have
increased polysilicon manufacturing capacity by up to 10 times over that
10-year span.
“This announcement offers
solar industry leaders confidence that polysilicon supply will be
available as the solar and electronics industries continue to grow and
innovate,” said Rick Doornbos, president and CEO of Hemlock
Semiconductor Corporation. “The exact scale of this investment will be
determined by market conditions. Making this investment in today’s
volatile economic climate is a testament to both the long-term outlook
of the solar industry, as well as Hemlock Semiconductor’s ability to add
capacity to meet the needs of customers.”
To execute the Hemlock
Semiconductor group investment, the company’s shareholders formed
Hemlock Semiconductor LLC, a new joint venture that will manage the
Tennessee site. Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation will continue to
manage the company’s existing Michigan site.
This is the third major
expansion announced at the Michigan site in the last five years. In
total, Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation has committed to invest as much
as $2.5 billion at the site during this time frame. This latest
expansion will add up to 13,000 metric tons of capacity to the site,
while creating up to 300 permanent new jobs, as well as keeping more
than 800 construction workers busy during the construction. The Michigan
expansion is expected to begin supplying polysilicon in 2011.
“Michigan
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, as well as many key state legislators and
local government officials worked hard to make Michigan an attractive
location for another Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation expansion,” said
Doornbos. “Hemlock, Michigan, has been our home since our inception more
than 40 years ago. It reflects the commitment of our talented employees
and the support of the region that we’re able to make another large
investment at the site,” Doornbos said.
“We’ve been searching for
a location for a new polysilicon facility for some time, as a second
site assures a stable, secure supply of polysilicon,” said Doornbos.
“Governor Bredesen, working alongside a bipartisan team of state and
local officials worked hard to assure that our business needs were met.
Tennessee’s business climate coupled with a superb site in Clarksville,
a strong, productive workforce and an excellent location in proximity to
our supply chain made this the right decision.”
Most of the polysilicon
produced by the new facilities will be consumed by firms in the solar
industry; however, both sites will have the capability to manufacture
ultra-pure silicon for the electronics industry as well as solar-grade
material. In solar applications, polycrystalline silicon is the
cornerstone material used to produce solar cells that harvest renewable
energy from sunlight.
In June 2008, Hemlock
Semiconductor Corporation announced the start-up of 9,000 metric tons of
capacity at its newest polysilicon facility located at the company’s
Hemlock site. That expansion was part of a $500 million phased
investment announced in 2005 and 2006. Hemlock Semiconductor
Corporation’s annual capacity will be approximately 19,000 metric tons
by the end of 2008, and the Hemlock Semiconductor group plans to bring
up to 10,000 metric tons of capacity online each year until the
completion of these announced expansions.
Hemlock Semiconductor
Corporation and Hemlock Semiconductor LLC are joint ventures of Dow
Corning Corporation and two Japan-based firms, Shin-Etsu Handotai Co.,
Ltd. and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation.
Dow Corning will also
begin manufacturing high purity monosilane, a key specialty gas used to
manufacture thin-film solar cells and liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
This investment includes construction of a new monosilane manufacturing
facility in Hemlock, Michigan, adjacent to Hemlock Semiconductor
Corporation’s polysilicon manufacturing site.
“This significant
investment to become a leading supplier of monosilane for thin film
solar technology will expand our feedstock offering and will further
reinforce our position as a value-added material supplier to the solar
industry,” said Eric Peeters, global executive director, of Dow Corning
Solar Solutions.
The investment also
includes up to $3.0 billion at Dow Corning joint ventures Hemlock
Semiconductor Corporation and Hemlock Semiconductor LLC. The companies
will expand Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation’s existing Michigan
manufacturing facility and build a new site in Clarksville, Tennessee to
increase manufacturing capacity for polycrystalline silicon
(polysilicon) – the cornerstone material used to manufacture most solar
cells. Construction of both the polysilicon expansions and the new
monosilane site will begin immediately.
These announcements
solidify Dow Corning’s significant role in the development of the two
most common types of solar cells; crystalline-based and thin-film solar
cells. Crystalline-based solar cells use sliced polysilicon as its main
semi-conducting material. Thin-film solar cells are made by depositing
a thin film of silicon, enabled by monosilane, onto a sheet of another
material such as glass.
