First solar grade silicon factory in the Netherlands

The first solar grade silicon plant in the Netherlands, The Silicon Mine (TSM), is to open in late 2009. The silicon will be produced in two adjacent factories at the DSM Chemelot site in Sittard/Geleen and will be suitable for the production of wafers, the base material for the manufacture of solar cells.

The construction of the plant requires an investment of around 400 million Euro. TSM will provide employment to at least 400 people. Initially the factory will produce 4,000 tons of solar-grade silicon a year (5 per cent of the estimated world market in 2010). The location offers the possibility to expanded to 14,000 tons a year.

Feasibility study

The initiative behind TSM B.V. came from G. Boxhoorn, H. Thijs, and J-W. Hendriks. They received financial backing from DSM (Netherlands), LIOF, an investment company based in the province of Limburg, and the province of Limburg itself. A feasibility study carried out late 2006 showed that a silicon factory at Chemelot is a realistic proposition, both financially and technologically.

TSM will provide a greater availability of solar-grade silicon for producers of wafers, the base material for solar cells. This is also of great interest to Solland Solar, which is based at the nearby Avantis Heerlen/Aachen business park.

Innovative production method

TSM will apply well proven techniques in producing silicon with a high degree of purity. It is working in close partnership with Evonik Degussa GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Evonik Industries AG, which is a multinational corporation consistently aligned to high-margin specialty chemistry, with focus on among other the development of future-oriented technologies, such as production of polycrystalline silicon for the solar industry by a novel production process.
From a new own plant at Chemelot, Evonik Degussa will supply TSM with Siridion® chlorosilanes, which are used as raw materials in the production of poly silicon.

The new complex will consist of two facilities. In the first factory, impure metallurgical silicon will be converted to chlorosilane gases and purified through a process of vaporisation/ distillation. The purified gases will be converted back to very pure silicon in the second facility.

This very pure silicon, known as solar-grade silicon, is the base material for wafers, the ultra-thin sheets of silicon from which solar cells are ultimately produced.

Design & Engineering

The American engineering company, Fluor, and the manufacturer of polysilicon reactors, GT Solar Incorporated, have been awarded contracts for resepctively the design and engineering, and for the supply of equipment for of the factory.

Purchase contracts

The level of market interest is considerable. Various wafer manufacturers have signed agreements to purchase silicon for a period of 10 years.