MOSES LAKE, Wash., Aug. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Mississippi Silicon LLC, a leading global producer of silicon metal, announced plans to work with REC Silicon to help establish a low-carbon and fully traceable U.S.-based solar supply chain. The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) committing them to negotiate a raw material supply agreement.
Recent investment by the Hanwha Group into REC Silicon, in conjunction with Hanwha’s subsidiary Qcells, moves REC to expand its relationship with Mississippi Silicon to support the development of an end-to-end U.S. solar supply chain from silicon metal and polysilicon to fully assembled solar modules. The plan follows the August 18 passage of the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act (SEMA) as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, expanding U.S. production of polysilicon and metallurgical grade silicon.
Mississippi Silicon is the first new silicon metal facility in North America in forty years. Located in the northeast corner of Mississippi State, the plant is strategically placed to take advantage of a growing domestic customer base, stable low-cost electricity, and a regional supply chain. This facility has the highest quality process and environmental controls available, which allows it to operate one of the most efficient and cleanest silicon meal plants in the world.
As a leading producer of high-purity electronics and solar grade polysilicon with assets in Moses Lake, Washington and Butte, Montana, REC is positioned to help lead the U.S. clean energy transition. The recent Hanwha investment will enable a re-start of the currently idle Moses Lake plant in 2023 and make available high volumes of cost competitive, high quality, and low-carbon solar grade polysilicon. REC shut down the Moses Lake plant in 2019 due to unfavorable global market conditions.
Eddie Boardwine, CEO of Mississippi Silicon, noted “Mississippi Silicon was founded nearly ten years ago to be a domestic source of high-quality silicon metal to the U.S. solar, electronics and chemical industries. We are pleased by the growing recognition of the importance of a strong end-to-end US supply chain for these materials. Passage of the SEMA Act is critical to bringing that supply chain to reality. We look forward to working with REC Silicon to strengthen our existing relationship and build out that vital supply chain.”
“A robust solar energy industry in the U.S. is crucial to our national security and clean energy goals,” said James A. May II, CEO of REC Silicon. “Now that SEMA has passed as part of a broad clean energy incentive package, the solar manufacturing industry is in a position to make long-term investments that create millions of new career opportunities in cities and towns across the country and accelerate the transition to clean energy.”
For more information on REC and Mississippi Silicon, please visit www.recsilicon.com and www.missilicon.com/.
Media Contacts:
REC Silicon
Douglas J. Moore, Chief Financial Officer
Phone: 509-989-0749
Email: [email protected]
Mississippi Silicon
Elizabeth Heaton
Phone: 202-445-9858
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE Mississippi Silicon