Would PCS PV prove viable for Dunfermline?
The American hi-tech company rumoured to be taking over the former Hyundai plant in Dunfermline with the potential of creating 1000 new jobs, is revealed as San Jose, California-based, Zoom Diversified Inc (not to be confused with broadband Zoom Technologies Inc) by the Dunfermline Press. It claims to be building a poly-crystalline silicon manufacturing facility and a multi-phased vertically integrated solar energy generation plant that will manufacture the polycrystalline silicon feedstock, silicon solar cells and solar modules. It's choise of location is unusual in that the UK is not the biggest PV market and most PV companies find logistics plays an important role in location.The company, involved in mining, infrastructure, industrial, and real estate is developing the Global Gateway Technology City in the Philippines, a 24.5m sq ft business community.
President and CEO Zia Malik "has managed worldwide foundry sales and operations for companies like National Semi and CMD, developing a deep understanding of industry business cycles." His partner, CFO and VP operations is Zoaib Rangwala, with more than 30 years of semiconductor and info tech industry experience as engineer, manager, executive and entrepreneur has been in design and process engineering, managed product lines and been an effective programme manager, involved as CEO and CFO in startups like Exodus and VPNet.
(Right: The mohtballed Hyundai plant hanging on £20m funding.)
Everything however is very, very dependent on that funding package from the Scottish Government to allow the project to go ahead. It is understood there would be 600 top-quality jobs created with the opening of the operation and this would later rise significantly. It is reported that the firm could receive up to £20m, in regional selective assistance grant funding from the Scottish Government. During the negotiations, the company has made it very clear the inward investment package was vital for R&D.
Current news in the PCS business comes from China's LDK Solar which began operations in 2006 and has managed to become the fourth largest supplier of polycrystalline wafers in the world. LDK Solar's strength lies in its significant cost advantages which may propel the company to being the world's largest supplier of silicon wafers by the end of the decade.
In India, PCS manufacturing Tata BP Solar India Ltd is planning to boost its annual output to 300MW in 2010, while Maharishi Solar Technology Pvt Ltd, founded in 1999, will increase its current output of 2.5MW to 40MW in the future.
GT Solar which supplies PCS equipment for PV production and plans to list on Nasdaq, signed a $91m contract with The Silicon Mine, a Dutch PV manufacturer, to supply equipment for the Netherlands’ first solar-grade silicon plants. That would be the first European installation for GT Solar, which sells mostly to Asian manufacturers. South Korea’s DC Chemical placed a $200m order in March. And last August, GT Solar inked a $171m deal with China’s Glory Silicon Energy to provide furnaces for silicon-ingot production.
The Dunfermline Press broke the news about a US firm being set to buy the former Hyundai site back in May and painstaking negotiations have been going on since and are now reaching a conclusion.
The Hyundai factory, abandoned by Hyundai and subsequently by Motorola is Scotland’s biggest-ever industrial white elephant, empty since completion in 1999. Stuart Nichol, executive director of the council’s environment and development services, said "Although we will do all we can to assist companies in coming to a decision to relocate to Fife, at the end of the day it will be a commercial decision by any company involved whether or not to base themselves in Fife.”
It will also be a commercial decision for the Scottish Government.
Sources: http://www.dunfermlinepress.com
http://www.xconomy.com
Web: http://zoomdiversified.com/solar.html