NITOL - russischer SI-Hersteller und IPO-Kandidat - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[meinolf67]

Nicolas Mokhoff
EE Times
07/31/2008 5:09 PM



MANHASSET, N.Y. — International Finance Corp., a member of the World Bank Group, has made a $50 million equity investment along with a $25 million loan to Russian polysilicon producer Nitol Solar.

The funds will be used to help establish Nitol Solar's new production facilities in Usoliye Sibirskoye, a region in southeastern Siberia.

Polysilicon, a key material in solar cells, has been in short supply, and IFC said its investment would help alleviate the global shortage once production starts in mid-2009. Industry analysts estimate that the global polysilicon shortage could end as early as the end of the year as more capacity come online.

Nitol Solar's projected annual output of 3,700 tons equals about 9 percent of last year's global polysilicon supply.

"This project is an example of IFC's commitment to helping mid-tier companies become global players and of our strategy to support the growth of renewable energy," Somit Varma, an IFC director, said in a statement.

Nitol Solar manufactures key chemical components for the global photovoltaic industry. It focuses on several manufacturing steps such as trichlorosilane gas production and polycrystalline wafers used in solar cells.

Earlier this year, photovoltaic producer Suntech Power Holdings (Wuxi, China) acquired a minority stake in Nitol Solar with an investment of up to $100 million. Nitol also signed a multiyear agreement to supply Suntech with monthly volumes of polysilicon from 2009 to 2015.

Suntech has paid the first $33 million installment to Nitol Solar, which will allow it to speed construction of its new polysilicon plant. The new facility will utilize advanced polysilicon production equipment.

In 2004, the World Bank Group pledged to increase its financial support for renewable energy and energy efficiency by 20 percent annually through 2010.

[meinolf67]

man wollte vor einigen MOnaten an die Börse in London gehen, hat dann aber "den Stecker gezogen"..

Suntech hat ordentlich investiert.

[meinolf67]

Moscow, June 4, 2008 – Nitol Solar announces that it has successfully produced its first industrial batch of Polysilicon at its Russian production site in Usolye-Sibirskoe, Irkutsk Region. Analysis of the product samples testing conducted by Evans Analytical Group (EAG), a leading independent laboratory in the field of material testing, indicates that the quality of the tested polycrystalline silicon complies with the requirements for further utilization in the manufacture of solar wafers.

Dmitry Kotenko, CEO said: “We are delighted that we have now reached stable production and confirmed the high quality of our product. This is an important milestone for our company and also a symbolic event for the whole of Russia’s nascent high tech industry”.

[lieberlong]

18.08.2008 14:08
Suntech Completes Investment in Nitol Solar

Suntech Successfully Tests Initial Batches of Polysilicon

SAN FRANCISCO and WUXI, China, Aug. 18 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Suntech Power Holdings Co., (News) Ltd. , one of the world's leading manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, today announced it has completed the final round of its $100 million in aggregate purchase of a minority interest in Nitol Solar, (News) an independent polysilicon producer. In conjunction with the completion of the transaction, Suntech also announced that it was pleased with the test results from the initial batches of polysilicon that it has received from Nitol.

Suntech's completion of its minority investment in Nitol Solar coincides with the recently announced $50 million equity investment in and $25 million loan to Nitol Solar from IFC (International Finance Corporation), a member of the World Bank Group. Funds raised from both Suntech and IFC will help Nitol Solar to continue the on schedule construction of its new production facilities in Irkutsk, Russia and achieve its projected annual polysilicon capacity of 3,700 tons in 2009.

"We are pleased to cement our strategic partnership with Nitol and jointly advance the adoption of solar energy as an instrument for sustainable global change," said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech's Chairman and CEO. "This alliance supports our diversified polysilicon procurement strategy to increase visibility on supply while driving towards grid parity."

"The recent investment in Nitol Solar by IFC validates our view of Nitol as one of the best-positioned new entrant polysilicon producers, both from a technical perspective and now with the financial means to build out their facility. We have already received sample quantities of polysilicon from Nitol and are very pleased with the quality achieved," added Dr. Shi.

Lance Crist, Senior Manager IFC Oil, Gas and Chemicals, commented, "Our investment in Nitol underscores IFC's commitment to supporting the growth of renewable energy. Nitol's technical expertise in the production of key polysilicon inputs and its strategic relationship with Suntech are important reasons why we believe in the success of this project."

On April 1, 2008, Suntech announced an expansion to the terms of its existing seven-year polysilicon supply agreement with Nitol Solar, which runs from 2009 to 2015. Under the expanded agreement, Nitol had agreed to substantially increase the aggregate committed volumes to be supplied between 2009 and 2015.

Dmitry Kotenko, Chief Executive Officer of Nitol Solar, said, "Suntech has become a valuable partner of Nitol Solar and we are glad to acknowledge success in our on-going relations with one of the leaders in the global solar energy sector. Nitol Solar is committed to generating substantial value for our strategic partners as we execute on our expansion plans and progress in our mission to become cost efficient producers of quality polysilicon."

About Nitol Solar

Nitol Solar is an international Group manufacturing key chemical components for the global Solar Energy industry from an established chemical chlorine and silicon gas facility in the Irtutsk Region, Russia. Nitol Solar's current and envisaged product groups encompass a number of steps in the photovoltaic value chain from trichlorosilane gas through polycrystalline wafers utilized in solar cells. Nitol Solar's aim is to become a global leader in the efficient supply of products for the fast growing solar energy industry. For more detailed information please visit Nitol Solar's website at .

About Suntech

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is a world leading solar energy company as measured by both production output and capacity of solar cells and modules. Suntech is passionate about improving the environment we live in and dedicated to developing advanced solar solutions that enable sustainable development. Suntech designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of high quality, cost effective and environmentally friendly solar products for electric power applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility sectors. Suntech offers one of the broadest ranges of BIPV products under the MSK Solar Design LineTM. Suntech has sales offices worldwide and is a market share leader in key global solar markets. For more information, please visit http://www.suntech-power.com/ .

Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward- looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements, and includes Nitol's ability to complete the development of its polysilicon plant, the ability to complete such development without further additional funding, the ability of Nitol to deliver polysilicon supply under its supply agreements, the ability to achieve grid parity, and the quality of polysilicon produced by Nitol. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Suntech's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F. Suntech does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

[meinolf67]

Friday, August 29, 2008
Updated at 29 August 2008 1:59 Moscow Time.
The Moscow Times » Issue 3977 » Frontpage Top
print
For MT
A solar-powered house on Lake Baikal. Authorities snubbed solar power for a more costly option on Olkhon Island.
Investors Bet Millions on the Sun
29 August 2008By Maria Antonova / Staff WriterThe image of Russia as a dark northern country that lives off its fossil fuels might be well-founded. But companies that rely on global demand for solar energy and Russia's scientific base have investors convinced.

The next step: convincing their own government.

Nitol Solar, a private company in the east Siberian town of Usolye-Sibirskoye, has raised $600 million in investment since opening five years ago, including $190 million from Alfa Bank on Aug. 12 and $75 million from the World Bank's International Finance Corporation in late July.

The latest investment agreements were signed after Nitol Solar produced its first batch of polysilicon, an energy-intensive raw material that is the main component of solar cells.

Nitol Solar's production of polysilicon was big news in the solar power market, which currently provides about 1 percent of global energy consumption and has been growing rapidly in the past couple of years, fueled by rising energy costs and environmental awareness. The main reason the market is not expanding more quickly is a shortage of polysilicon, which absorbs the sun's photons in order to generate an electric current.

Nitol Solar, based in a restructured Soviet chemical plant in the Irkutsk region, plans to produce 3,700 tons of polysilicon per year, or about 9 percent of last year's global supply, by the end of 2009.

These plans have attracted big players like Chinese solar power holding Suntech Power, the world's third-biggest producer of solar cells with a market capitalization of $6.3 billion. Suntech has signed a seven-year supply agreement with Nitol and has agreed to purchase $100 million worth of newly issued ordinary shares in the Russian company.

In addition to China, Nitol Solar supplies raw materials for solar cell production to several European countries, the United States, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, with total contracts worth of $1.5 billion through 2015, said executive director Dmitry Kotenko.

The company currently has no long-term contracts with Russian solar panel manufacturers. But industry players and investors expect that to change.

Kotenko is optimistic that a government drive to promote innovative technologies will jump-start the solar power industry. "The photovoltaic industry is technologically and scientifically intensive. In this regard, Russia can take advantage of its general scientific potential while developing such innovative industry sector," he said.

Alfa Bank vice president Veniamin Gutnikov echoed Kotenko's hopes. "We expect the solar power market to develop in Russia in the next four years and anticipate an introduction of subsidies and reduced taxes for companies in the sector," he said.

Solar manufacturers in Europe and the United States enjoy similar perks already.

President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree in early June that ordered the government to "consider supporting and stimulating renewable energy projects" from the federal budget starting in 2009.

Energy Ministry spokesman Pavel Rodionov could not immediately say Thursday whether any legislation to support alternative energy initiatives was in the works.

Only 0.7 percent of energy production in Russia comes from renewable resources, and the domestic market is expected to grow. Some parts of Siberia and regions in the south of the country get as many as 300 sunny days a year, which is comparable to the amount of sun in southern Europe, where solar panels are increasingly popular, Gutnikov said.

Russia has several solar panel manufacturers, most of which are experiencing shortages of polysilicon. Krasnodar-based Solar Wind, which produces solar modules for Spain, Germany and Greece, has the capacity to produce four times more than it is actually producing because of the raw-material shortage, said company spokesman Timofei Serov. "Demand is so high that we hardly have any storage space -- clients purchase our product immediately," he said.

While solar power in Europe is increasingly replacing conventional power production in urban areas, in Russia solar cells are primarily installed in remote areas to power antennas for cellular phones and security systems, Serov said. In recent years, the share of Solar Wind's Russian clients has grown from 5 to 20 percent, he said.

Using alternative energy such as solar cells makes economic sense in regions that spend a lot of money to ship in energy, said Igor Podgorny, head of Greenpeace's energy efficiency program. Last year, the northern republic of Sakha paid 1.2 billion rubles to transport fossil fuel, according to Greenpeace data.

"It's hard for new players to come into Russia's energy sector," Podgorny said.

Equipping a dacha with solar panels is still relatively costly, while companies have shown little interest in using innovative alternative technology for industrial facilities and power plants, he said.

As a result, conventional energy production is chosen even when it may not make economic sense. When it was decided to replace the polluting diesel-powered electric station on Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal, the authorities chose a complex system of power lines and underwater cables that stretched to the island from the shore. "That project was so complex that it will only pay for itself in 70 years, which is extremely high for the energy industry," Podgorny said.

Cheaper alternatives based on solar and wind power were proposed, but they did not get approved, he said.

Worldwide, solar power is taking off. Last year, the amount of energy produced by solar cells shot up 51 percent to 3,733 megawatts, while installations of solar cells have increased fivefold in the past five years, according to the Worldwatch Institute. The solar cell industry raised $10 billion and generated $17.2 billion in global revenues in 2007, according to an industry report by Solarbuzz.

The International Energy Agency has predicted that solar power production will grow 60-fold worldwide between 2004 and 2030.

Kotenko of Nitol Solar said tax breaks and other perks could help Russia's solar power sector, but he expressed optimism that the industry breakthrough would eventually come because of market forces. "Market conditions will make solar power competitive with traditional energy because prices for traditional energy are growing while improving photovoltaic technology is lowering prices for solar," he said.

"The solar power sector is growing exponentially. It's one of the most dynamic industries worldwide," he added.

Solar Wind also has ambitious expansion plans. "The polysilicon shortage is a resolvable issue, so we plan to increase our capacity from 8 peak kilowatt per year to 150 peak kilowatt per year in 2012," Serov said. "We already have an investor, and work is under way."

[meinolf67]

Press releases
13.10.2008
Nitol Solar Supplies Trina Solar with Initial Deliveries of Polysilicon to Manufacture Solar Modules

Jersey, October 13, 2008 – Initial production volumes of polysilicon supplied by Nitol Solar were used to manufacture solar modules by Trina Solar after undergoing a series of quality tests. Nitol Solar produced the polysilicon in its Usolie-Sibirsky Silicon plant in the Irkutsk region, Russia.

Trina Solar tested the polysilicon through the entire production process from monocrystalline ingots, wafers and cells to solar modules. The results demonstrated compliance of polysilicon made by Nitol Solar with the modern PV requirements.

According to the long-term contract between the companies signed in October 2007, Nitol Solar will deliver polysilicon to Trina Solar starting in 2009 with sufficient quantities to produce over 200 MW of modules in aggregate.

[meinolf67]

10.12.2008
Nitol presented a project on development of polysilicon and monosilane production facilities at the nanotechnologies forum

At the 5th International forum on nanotechnologies «Rusnanotech», held in Moscow on December 3-5, Nitol presented a project on development of polysilicon and monosilane production facilities.

The range of polysilicon and monosilane application in nanotechnologies for the electronic and solar energy industries is steadily expanding. For instance, these materials are used for fabrication of crystalline and thin-film silicon-based solar panels, LCD-screens, wafers and processing layers of integrated circuits (ICs).

The project is implemented at the NITOL production site in Usolye-Sibirskoe, the Irkutsk region.

Phased commissioning of the polysilicon production facility with an aggregate capacity of 3,800 MT is scheduled for 2009. The first polysilicon batches were produced by Nitol in the middle of 2008 and successfully certified by the company’s business customers - the largest enterprises in the global solar energy sector.

In November 2008 Nitol launched the monosilane production project with an aggregate capacity of 200 MT. Commissioning of the first production phase is scheduled for 2010.

Establishment of these production facilities will help provide feedstock for Russian innovative nanotechnologies-related projects.

At the «Rusnanotech» forum the project was presented to Chairman of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov and to Vice-President of the RF Government Sergey Ivanov and merited special mention by director general of "Rosnano" Anatoly Chubais. The company exposition excited a keen interest among the Russian and foreign visitors to the forum.

About the «Rusnanotech» forum

The Forum focused on the outlook for development of nanotechnologies in Russia and worldwide, foreign experience in establishment of national innovative systems, the state and business circles contribution to commercialization of scientific research and development in the field of nanotechnologies. Special attention was devoted to the prospects of nanotechnologies application in various spheres of the economy, ranging from electronics, medicine and biotechnologies to mechanical engineering, oil, gas and chemical industries, as well as to Russian regional programs of nanotechnologies development. Detailed information about the Forum is available on the web-site: www.rusnanoforum.ru

[R-BgO]

16.02.2009
RUSNANO Supervisory Council approves Corporation’s participation in the NITOL’s polycrystalline silicon project

The Supervisory Council of the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies has approved the Corporation’s participation in the Nitol project aiming to construct Russia's first large-scale complex producing polycrystalline silicon and monosilane.

The high technology production complex is to be created under the auspices of NITOL enterprises: Usoliye-Sibirskiy Silicon and Usoliekhimprom, located in Usolie-Sibirskoe, Irkutsk region. The first stage of production has already been launched in December 2008 with 300 tons of output per year in test mode. The core operations with output of 3500 tons per year are set to be running by the end of 2009. The monosilane production with a total yearly output of 200 tons to be reached will be started stage by stage.

The total amount of RUSNANO’s investment in the project is set at 7.5 billion rubles: 3 billion rubles will be offered in the form of guarantees and 4.5 billion via a long-term loan. The loan will be made available in the first and second quarters of 2009. The loan and resources obtained under guarantee will be directed to completing the facilities for the production of polysilicon. Alfa Bank is to be a partner in the project, granting credit to finance the companies’ current needs, and attracting the financial resources under the RUSNANO guarantee.

The new production complex will set up a raw-material base for further development of Russian microelectronics, and it will also become an essential step on the way to forming a new sector of Russian industry - solar energy generation. The project will contribute to the implementation of tasks stated by the government of Russian Federation to increase the amount of renewable resources in producing electricity and guarantee the thrifty use of energy resources.

About Nitol Solar
Nitol Solar is an international Group manufacturing key chemical components for the global Solar Energy industry from an established chemical chlorine and silicon gas facility in the Irtutsk Region, Russia. Nitol Solar’s current and envisaged product groups encompass a number of steps in the photovoltaic value chain from trichlorosilane gas through polycrystalline wafers utilized in solar cells. Nitol Solar’s aim is to become a global leader in the efficient supply of products for the fast growing solar energy industry. For more detailed information please visit Nitol Solar’s website at www.nitolsolar.com

[R-BgO]

News
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18.03.2009
NITOL Group, LLC has met the public offer terms

On March 17, 2009 NITOL Group, a Limited Liability Company, met the irrevocable public offer terms and paid off the accumulated coupon yield, calculated based on the acquisition date, on the 02 series payable on demand nonconvertible documentary interest-bearing bonds with obligatory centralized storage (state registration number 4-02-36113-R, dated October 26, 2006), which amounted to 29,29 rubles per bond.



Payoff on the 5th coupon yield is scheduled for June 16, 2009.

On March 17, 2009 conditions of the irrevocable public offer were met by NITOL Group LLC. In compliance with the offer terms, the issuer redeemed 2 148 139 bonds at 99,5% of their nominal worth.

Bonds of the given issue were offered for public subscription at the MICEX Stock Exchange on December 19, 2006. The coupon rate determined by the issuer for the whole term of maturity amounts to 11.75%.

“Zenit” Bank is the organizer, underwriter, paying agent and agent on the offer implementation relevant to bonds issue.

Emission documents on the 02 bond series are available on the web-site of NITOL group, LLC www.nitol.ru.