Hoku Scientific to Construct Solar Manufacturing Plant in Idaho

September 1, 2006
Source: Clean Edge News

Hoku Scientific, Inc., a materials science company focused on clean energy technologies, announced it has selected the State of Idaho as the location for Hoku Solar and Hoku Materials, its solar module and polysilicon business units, respectively.

Dustin Shindo, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hoku Scientific, said, "We are pleased to have selected Idaho as the location for our new businesses. We believe that Idaho is the best location in terms of cost, resources, labor and government support."

"We are very excited that Hoku Scientific has chosen Idaho as the location for its new high technology renewable energy-focused businesses," said Idaho's Governor Jim Risch. "We have met with their management team, and were impressed with their growth strategy. We expect Hoku Scientific to have a significant long-term positive impact on our economy."

The State of Idaho and the municipal governments have offered Hoku Scientific a variety of incentives to attract the Hoku Solar and Hoku Materials businesses, including tax incentives, financial support for infrastructure improvements around the facilities, and grants to fund the training of new employees.

"Idaho is a very attractive place for us to expand our business," said Shindo, "and we look forward to contributing to Idaho's growing and diversified economy."

In addition to the financial incentives, one of the major advantages of Idaho is the availability of very competitively priced electricity. The production of polysilicon using Siemens reactor technology is an energy intensive process, and a reliable, low-cost source of electricity is very important to remaining competitive. Idaho can also provide the water, natural gas, and sewage infrastructure necessary to run the plant. In terms of logistics, there is easy access to interstate highways and railway networks, with connections to the major ports on the east and west coasts of the U.S. Idaho also offers large plots of undeveloped land at very attractive prices with room for future expansion.

Earlier this year, Hoku Scientific announced its plans to enter the solar and polysilicon businesses by manufacturing up to 30 megawatts of solar modules and up to 1,500 metric tons of polysilicon per year. Polysilicon is the primary raw material used to manufacture photovoltaic cells for solar modules. The company plans to commence manufacturing of solar modules and polysilicon in the second halves of 2007 and 2008, respectively. Last week, Hoku Scientific awarded the initial phase of engineering work for its polysilicon plant to CH2M HILL Lockwood Greene, a major engineering, procurement and construction management firm with several years of experience with polysilicon plants.

Hoku Scientific is evaluating three sites near the Snake River in southern Idaho, and plans to make a final decision within the next several weeks.