The current promotion of FBR polysilicon technology will begin mass production next year allowing production costs for poly silicon to gradually decrease to US $10/kg (NT $296), said Lu Jinbiao, vice chairman of GCL-Poly Energy Holding Limited (GCL).
By then, GCL will have ten thousand tons of modified Siemens process and ten thousand tons of FBR process. In regards to modified Siemens process can greatly reduce the production cost of polysilicon.
GCL polycrystalline silicon currently costs around US $16/kg. Production costs for the majority of domestic Chinese manufacturers are generally slightly higher than GCL due to differences in production technique, scale, and electricity costs. GCL estimates polysilicone shipment volumes in 2013 to surpass 50 thousand tons, a 35% increase from 37 thousand tons in 2012.
GCL FBR polysilicon is third generation technology that will be able to effectively control granules that might cause pollution during purification, said Lu. The company completed 1,000 ton production capacity test in 2012 which can substantially reduce polysilicon production costs and produce highly pure polysilicon for electronic applications.
GCL proprietary 300,000 kilowatt thermal power plant has already received the government approval and has begun construction, operations will begin at the beginning of next year. This will allow the company to reduce polysilicon electricity costs.