BP announces five-fold expansion of solar production in Spain

Petroleum News Alaska

BP said July 4 that it has agreed in principle to acquire Agere Systems’ semiconductor plant in Madrid as a base for a five-fold expansion of its solar photovoltaic cell manufacturing in Spain. This expansion builds on the company’s existing manufacturing and marketing operations in Madrid. The deal is expected to be complete within the next few months.

The new facility will be one of the largest solar plants in the world, producing 60 megawatts a year of high-efficiency crystalline silicon Saturn solar cells and having the potential to expand further. This product will be sold globally, but will especially help to meet the rapidly growing demand for solar power in Europe. The plant will begin production by the end of 2002 and will use state-of-the-art techniques to improve productivity, yield, cell efficiency and product performance.

BP will invest more than $100 million in the project, which is situated to the north of Madrid, around 10 miles from BP Solar’s current Spanish manufacturing facility. Around 600 new jobs will be created when the plant is fully operational.

Commenting on the deal, BP Solar chief executive Harry Shimp said: “Spain and the rest of Europe represent growing markets for solar power. This project in Madrid will enable us to continue to play a leading role in meeting that demand.” BP is one of the world’s leading solar companies, with nearly 20 per cent of the global market.