LDK Solar's Plant Reaches First Production Run

World’s Largest Polysilicon Facility Boasts High Purity, Low Energy Consumption and First-Rate Environmental Controls

Fluor Corporation announced today that it has helped LDK Solar’s polysilicon plant in Xinyu City, China, to its first successful production run. As the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contractor, Fluor helped bring the facility from groundbreaking to first production in just 20 months. LDK Solar initiated production ramp-up of operations for its first 5,000 metric-ton (MT) train of its eventual 15,000 MT (annualized capacity) polysilicon plant in Xinyu earlier this month.

"This is an amazing project milestone due to the incredible size of the facility and the unprecedented speed of the construction schedule to meet first production,” said Peter Oosterveer, president of Fluor’s Energy & Chemicals Group. “With the numerous unique design and construction challenges of this megaproject and the accelerated timetable we achieved together with LDK Solar, this is truly an unprecedented accomplishment.”

Nick Sarno, LDK Solar’s senior vice president of manufacturing and polysilicon plant project manager, confirmed Oosterveer’s insights. “The project team, skillfully led by Fluor, has done an incredible job helping to make the impossible possible,” Sarno said. “In just 20 months, we have achieved what many said to be impossible. We literally moved mountains so that we could build the largest polysilicon plant in the world.”

LDK’s Xinyu plant is producing high purity polysilicon. Other features of the plant include a closed-loop process, state-of-the-art plant control systems and a world-class environmental protection system that further exemplify the quality standards of this unique facility.

A ceremony with more than 2,000 attendees was held earlier this month to mark the occasion. Special dignitaries included Su Ron, secretary of the Jiangxi Communist Party, Wu Xinxiong, governor of Jiangxi Province and other notable government officials.

See the original article here