Singapore-based PV module manufacturer REC Group this week closed its polysilicon production activities in Kristiansand and Porsgrunn, Norway.
“We have reached the point where it is unfortunately not possible to make the production of high-purity silicon in Norway viable,” REC's CEO, Jan Enno Bicker, said in a press release distributed among Norwegian media.
“We compete with Chinese companies that have an electricity price of NOK 0.40 ($0.037) per kWh. Right now, we are paying more than ten times that sum in the spot market.”
The company has not responded to pv magazine‘s request for additional comment.
REC reportedly restarted production at its facilities in Norway in March, but it then shut it down again in August, citing high electricity prices.
According to Norwegian TV channel NRK, REC's activities in Norway have accumulated losses in the amount of NOK335 million ($31.2 million). The closing of the production is expected to affect around 250 workers.
Norwegian solar producers Norwegian Crystals and Norsun also recently announced they halted their wafer operations, with the former filing for insolvency in late August. Meanwhile, Norsun announced plans to open a 5 GW factory in the United States.
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