Having just become the largest shareholder of polysilicon maker REC Silicon ASA, South Korea’s Hanwha Solutions Corp (KRX:009830) presented a multi-phase, multi-billion-dollar investment plan across the full solar value chain in the US.
The Korean owner of solar panel manufacturer Q Cells confirmed it has increased its stake in Norway-based REC Silicon to 21.34% by acquiring an additional 4.67% interest from Aker Horizons ASA (OSE:AKH). Earlier in the same day, Aker Horizons announced it had agreed to sell what was left of its shareholding in REC Silicon to Hanwha Solutions and parent company Hanwha Corp (KRX:000880).
According to Hanwha Solutions, it is paying USD 44 million (EUR 39.8m) for the latest stake acquisition after spending USD 160 million on the initial 16.67% interest.
Hanwha Solutions said on Wednesday that the acquisition “is only the prelude” to its plan to rebuild the full solar supply chain in the US. The Korean company intends to proceed with investments in virtually every sub-sector of the US solar manufacturing industry.
The plan revolves around Q Cells’ existing 1.7-GW solar panel factory in Georgia, which Hanwha says is the largest in the country, and REC Silicon’s currently idle polysilicon production facility in Moses Lake, Washington. That site was shut down in 2019 because of the impacts of Chinese tariffs on US-made polysilicon, uncertain market conditions and reduced demand for REC Silicon’s solar-grade polysilicon, but Hanwha aims to reopen the facility next year.
"We imagine a Moses Lake factory brought back to life with local workers clocking in and operating the plant," said a Hanwha spokesperson.
In addition to the Moses Lake plant that focuses on solar-grade polysilicon, REC Silicon also operates a site in Butte, Montana, where it makes electronic grade polysilicon. Both run on hydropower which would make their output more attractive in the coming years, the company believes.
Hanwha went on to say that in order to achieve its objectives, the US government will need to introduce durable, long-term policies such as Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock’s SEMA bill, also known as the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act. The bill is yet to be passed by the Senate.
According to the SEMA Coalition, which represents American solar manufacturers supporting the legislation, the bill would add over 30 GW of production capacity in the US by 2025 and create some 18,000 direct and 60,000 indirect jobs.
(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.905)
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The Beacon Solar Energy Project is located in eastern Kern County, California. Source: Q CELLS.
