Large core equipment is now in place upright at the Wacker polysilicon site in Charleston, Tenn. Five structures - each measuring more than 200 feet tall - traveled to the site last year along I-75.Wacker is boosting its investment in its Bradley County plant by $200 million to a total of $2 billion and growing its production capacity by 10 percent, the company announced today.
Due to the delay in production startup to mid-2015, the company said it's investing the extra money into the Charleston, Tenn., project that's under construction.
The site's total production capacity will grow at least 10 percent to over 20,000 metric tons per year. Wacker is using the additional time to optimize production facilities and improve manufacturing processes there, so that yields are higher, the company said.
Late last year, Wacker said that amid the excess capacities currently facing polysilicon, it would slow down the pace of the construction project.
The company plans to employ about 650 people at the plant. It recently said that about 1,000 people are on site building the factory.
See full story in Friday's Times Free Press.