This is an artist’s concept of a solar wafer plant under construction in Vietnam. South Korea’s OCI
Holdings has agreed to purchase a 65% stake in the project. Photo courtesy of OCI Holdings
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (UPI) — South Korean chemical giant OCI Holdings said Monday it will enter the solar wafer business to target the U.S. market by acquiring a facility being built in Vietnam.
Toward that end, its subsidiary, OCI TerraSus, plans to spend $78 million to purchase a 65% stake in a 2.7-gigawatt wafer plant from Elite Solar Power Wafer, which is scheduled for completion by the end of this month.
OCI Holdings expects the factory to start rolling out wafers early next year, without having to worry about U.S. tax-credit restrictions.
A solar wafer is a tin slice of crystalline silicon that serves as the primary building block for manufacturing solar cells.
The United States introduced legislation in early July barring prohibited foreign entities from receiving clean energy tax credits. These are entities controlled or significantly influenced by such nations as North Korea, China, Russia and Iran.
OCI Holdings projected that the deal would create synergy because OCI TerraSus is set to provide all the polysilicon needed for the new facility to manufacture non-prohibited foreign entity wafers.
The Seoul-based corporation said the plant’s capacity could be doubled within six months with an additional $40 million investment. However, it has yet to decide whether to proceed with the expansion.
“This strategic investment brings us closer to building a supply chain that facilitates U.S. exports,” OCI Holdings Chairman Lee Woo-hyun said in a statement. “We will continue to strengthen our presence in the global solar market by fostering partnerships with local companies in Southeast Asia.”
In July, OCI TerraSus joined hands with Japan’s Tokuyama to channel $435 million into establishing a semiconductor-grade polysilicon factory in Malaysia. Each company holds a 50% stake in the project.