Wafer Works signs 8-year supply deal for silicon

Nuying Huang, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES [Tuesday 28 October 2008]

Wafer Works, a Taiwan-based producer of semiconductor-grade and solar-grade silicon wafers, on October 27 announced it has signed an 8-year contract with an international silicon material supplier for the period from January 2010 to December 2017.

The supply contract is primarily to meet demand for silicon material by Solargiga Energy, Wafer Works' subsidiary and a maker of solar-grade mono- and poly-crystalline silicon ingots/wafers in China, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Solargiga is expanding its factory on a 4-hectare site located in Liaoning Province, northeastern China, with annual production capacity of monocrystalline silicon ingots/wafers to increase from an equivalent of 200MWp (megawatt-peak) currently to that of 400MWp in 2009, the sources pointed out. In addition, Solargiga will expand its annual production capacity of polycrystalline silicon ingots/wafers from an equivalent of less than 20MWp presently to that of 200MWp in 2009, the sources indicated.

Solargiga's total annual production capacity of crystalline silicon ingots/wafers in 2009 will reach an equivalent of 600MWp, with supply contracts and the spot market to each account for 50% of the needed silicon material, the sources noted.