With an existing production capacity of 10,000 tons, GCL Poly (03800.HK), a world-leading PV material supplier, has recently added another 20,000 tons of production capacity for granular silicon (FBR).
On November 11th, GCL Poly announced that its subsidiary Jiangsu Zhongneng Silicon Technology Development Co., Ltd. (Jiangsu Zhongneng) has completed the infrastructure construction for 20,000 tons of granular silicon (FBR) capacity at the end of October 2021. After equipment testing and system commissioning, the plant was officially put into operation on November 10.
Sources from GCL Poly said that, “The commissioning of the new project means that the effective production capacity of granular silicon has increased from 10,000 tons to 30,000 tons.”
He added that, the company is fully capable of replicating the production capacity of granular silicon in a systematic, standardized, digital, integrated, intelligent and modular manner. With the increase of output, granular silicon will become more widely used by downstream enterprises.
The FBR process granular silicon technology is a high-tech production process of polycrystalline silicon developed by GCL Poly for many years.
Compared with traditional silicon ingot, FBR granular silicon has great advantages in cost-efficiency, carbon emissions and quality.
In February 2021, GCL Poly’s granular silicon production capacity rose from 6,000 tons to 10,000 tons. In only nine months, the capacity has doubled again.
It is reported that the construction of the project started in February 2021 and ended after nine months. It is the first project to have adopted modular construction and production in terms of process, equipment, installation, material balance and structures, etc.
An insider commented that, “FBR granular silicon has multiple advantages such as low investment, low cost, low carbon emission and high efficiency. The 20,000-ton modular project is not only a major technological innovation, but also a subversive revolution.”
On October 27, GCL Poly obtained the carbon footprint certificate of granular silicon issued by the Agency of Environment and Energy Control of France.
It certifies that the carbon footprint of producing one kilogram of granular silicon is 37.000 kg carbon dioxide equivalent, much lower than the record 57.559 kg created by Wacker Chemie.
As the world is controlling carbon emissions, granular silicon with less carbon footprint will become more competitive on the market, while effectively tackling the problems of high energy consumption and carbon emission in the production of silicon materials.
