World Bank unit taps growing solar market

A World Bank investment in a Russian polysilicon producer this week will help expand supplies of the key ingredient used to make solar cells and bring down costs of solar energy, an official said on Friday.

The bank’s International Finance Corp this week announced it had brought a $50 million equity stake in Nitol and provided a $25 million loan to the company to help establish new production facilities in Usoliye Sibirskoye, in southeastern Siberia.
Lance Crist, a senior manager in IFC’s oil, gas and chemicals division, said the investment was part of IFC’s strategy to support the growth of renewable energy amid concerns over global climate change and soaring oil prices.

Nitol’s projected output of 3,700 tonnes of polysilicon a year is about 9 percent of last year’s global supply.

Growth in solar energy — which has been in excess of 30 percent a year — has caused shortages of polysilicon and pushed prices to over $400 per kilogram on the spot market right now from just $30 a few years ago.

Reuters