Hemlock Joint Ventures to Invest up to $3 Billion to Expand Polysilicon Production

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http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsNAMA146.htm

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."

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