REC Silicon’s FBR joint venture is late, expects 8,000 tons in 2018

TianREC, the Chinese joint venture of U.S. polysilicon manufacturer REC Silicon with Shaanxi Non-Ferrous Tianhong New Energy, started to ramp up production in Yulin, Shaanxi province in December 2017. The polysilicon plant is now slated to reach its full capacity of 19,300 metric tons (MT) by the end of 2018.

Back in 2015, start of production using fluidized bed reactor (FBR) technology was planned for mid-2017, with polysilicon volumes of 7,300 MT in 2017 and 16,300 MT in 2018.

At the presentation of REC Silicon’s 2017 fourth quarter results on February 9, however, CEO Tore Torvund said that the second of two silane units and corresponding fluidized bed reactors in Yulin would start up in Q2 2018 – one quarter later than he announced last October. Torvund provided a new polysilicon production target of 8,000 MT for TianREC in 2018 (see presentation slide).

Beside the FBR capacity of 19,000 MT, the plant has a small capacity of 300 MT using the standard Siemens process.