REC Silicon climbs on top holder's investment in US solar supply chain

Rec Silicon ASA

12/01/2023 11:43

** Shares in REC Silicon  RECSI.OL  rise more than 5% after
its top holder on Wednesday said it would invest $2.5 bln in an
U.S solar supply chain
    ** Qcells  009830.KS , a division of South Korean Hanwha
Solutions Corporation  000880.KS  that owns 33% in REC, said the
new factory will make solar panel components such as silicon
ingots, wafers and cells
    ** Pareto Securities analyst Gard Aarvik says that while
almost all capacity on ingot and wafering is currently located
in China, "there is a clear desire to build up a full PV value
chain outside China to decrease the dependency on a single
market"
    ** As the U.S House of Representatives slammed Inflation
Reduction Act in August 2022, there are mechanisms in place to
incentivize a full photovoltaic value chain in the U.S., Aarvik
says
    ** "So the fact that you now can have solar modules with
purely U.S. footprint is a financial win both for REC Silicon,
Hanwha Solutions and U.S. PV operators," he says
    ** Aarvik notes Hanwha and REC Silicon are in talks
regarding an offtake agreement for polysilicon volumes from REC
Silicon's Moses Lake facility,
    ** Wednesday's announcement makes this agreement more
likely, he says
 (Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen)
 ((Louisebreusch.rasmussen@tr.com))