SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 25 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Suntech Power
Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) one of the world's leading manufacturers of
photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, today announced that it has entered into
a definitive contract with Asia Silicon Co., Ltd. to purchase high purity
polysilicon from Asia Silicon with a total value of up to $1.5 billion over a
seven-year period.
The polysilicon supplied by this agreement during the seven-year period is
subject to the acceptance of product deliveries and other conditions. The
contract provides for the delivery of a volume range of polysilicon each year
at fixed prices, using a take-or-pay approach, with delivery beginning in the
second half of 2008. A predetermined annual price reduction curve will
provide Suntech with high purity polysilicon at prices lower than any of
Suntech's other contracts.
''This contract with Asia Silicon will form a critical element of
Suntech's polysilicon supply portfolio as the average price paid under the
contract is so low that we believe that it reflects what is essentially grid
parity pricing for Suntech, when combined with our high efficiency solar cells
and world class low cost of production,'' said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech's
Chairman and CEO. ''We believe that this is truly transformational, with the
price decreasing to substantially below $40 per kilogram, as it enables
Suntech to be at the forefront of leading the solar industry towards an
environment without government subsidies or incentives.''
Asia Silicon is deep in the process of building a state-of-the-art
polysilicon plant in Qinghai, China with polysilicon production capacity
targets of 2,000 metric tons by July of 2008 and over 6,000 metric tons by the
end of 2010. The polysilicon plant will utilize the low-risk, well-proven
trichlorosilane-based advanced Siemens production process and has already
achieved impressive milestones in its development. Plant design started early
last year and orders for equipment and engineering services from industry
leading vendors including GT Solar Incorporated, Centrotherm GmbH/SiQ
GmbH/Solmic GmbH, and Chemical Design, Inc. have been in the pipeline for
almost a year. Up to 80% of electricity used in Asia Silicon's production of
polysilicon will be supplied from renewable energy hydropower sources with a
pricing structure that is among the lowest industrial electricity rates in
China.
''The new polysilicon plant will employ best of class production equipment
and processes, and is headed by Dr. Tihu Wang, one of the world's leading
polysilicon material scientists. Dr. Wang has built a formidable team of
talented scientists, engineers and operations professionals to execute on Asia
Silicon's aggressive growth plan and we are very confident in their ability to
produce high purity polysilicon,'' said Dr. Shi.
Dr. Tihu Wang, Asia Silicon's CEO said: ''We are delighted to enter this
partnership with Suntech, one of the world's premier solar cell and module
producers. This agreement is a milestone achievement for Asia Silicon and
will support our development over the long term. With Suntech's impressive
growth as an example, we look forward to rapidly developing and expanding our
production capacity of high quality polysilicon.''
Commenting on the progress of the plant development, Dr. Wang said: ''I am
very pleased with the progress we have made so far. Plant construction has
been underway during 2007 achieving impressive milestones and we are on-
schedule to complete the construction work and to start polysilicon production
in the second half of 2008. We believe that we will have among the lowest
production costs in the industry with our 20 year low cost electricity
agreement as well as a capex plan that is half the cost of some other
polysilicon producers.''
Asia Silicon has assembled an expert technical team that has over 150
years of combined experience in the research, development and production of
polysilicon and the precursor gas ultra-pure trichlorosilane. Dr. Wang is a
veteran silicon scientist of over 25 years and spent 18 years at the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy in Colorado where
he was the leading silicon material scientist and a project leader. He
received his Ph.D in applied physics from the Colorado School of Mines in the
United States.
About Suntech
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is a leading solar energy company in the
world as measured by both production output and capacity of solar cells and
modules. Suntech provides solar solutions for a green future. Suntech
designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of high quality, cost
effective and environmentally friendly PV cells and modules for electric power
applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility
sectors. Suntech's majority-owned subsidiary, MSK Corporation is one of the
top-ranked companies in the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) space.
Suntech's customers are located in various markets worldwide, including key
markets throughout Europe, North America, Japan and China. For more
information, please visit http://www.suntech-power.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements
constitute ''forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can
be identified by terminology such as ''will,'' ''expects,'' ''anticipates,''
''future,'' ''intends,'' ''plans,'' ''believes,'' ''estimates'' and similar
statements, and includes Suntech's ability to achieve grid-parity pricing, and
Suntech's ability to be at the forefront of leading the solar industry towards
an environment without government subsidies or incentives. Such statements
involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including but
not limited to the performance of the parties under the agreement, the overall
demand environment for silicon and supply instability. Further information
regarding these and other risks is included in Suntech's filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F.
Suntech does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking
statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except
as required under applicable law.
For more information, please contact:
In China:
Rory Macpherson
Investor Relations Manager
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd.
Tel: +86-510-8531-8922
Email: rory@suntech-power.com
In the United States:
Sanjay M. Hurry
Vice President
The Piacente Group, Inc.
Tel: +1-212-481-2050
Email: suntech@tpg-ir.com
SOURCE Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd.
-0- 10/25/2007
/CONTACT: In China, Rory Macpherson, Investor Relations Manager of
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., +86-510-8531-8922, or rory@suntech-power.com;
or in the United States, Sanjay M. Hurry, Vice President of The Piacente Group,
Inc., +1-212-481-2050, or suntech@tpg-ir.com /
/Web Site: http://www.suntech-power.com /
(STP)
CO: Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd.; Asia Silicon Co., Ltd.
ST: China
IN: CPR OIL UTI
SU: ASI CON
MM
-- CNTH031 --
6142 10/25/2007 08:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
