California-based Calisolar is expected to begin construction in May on a new silicon plant at the GTR Global Industrial Aerospace Park.
And employee layoffs in Sunnyvale, Calif., will not affect the company’s plans to build a plant near the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, Calisolar CEO Terry Jester said Wednesday.
Layoffs in Sunnyvale, Calif., where the company is based, are part of Calisolar’s transition from solar cell and silicon producer to exclusively a silicon producer.
A Wall Street Journal blog reported Tuesday the company was laying off employees and scuttling expansion plans in California, Michigan and Ontario, Canada.
But the company’s most-recent board meeting was in The Friendly City, Jester noted.
“That’s how serious we are,” she said.
The northern California plant is producing solar cells made from the company’s silicon. That plant opened to supply customers and as a demonstration of the company’s product, she said.
Now that the product’s quality has been shown, that part of the business is being phased out, Jester said, and that was always the company’s intent.
Columbus will be the company’s fourth site, she said. Along with the California plant is a silicon purification facility and engineering group in Ontario, Canada, and a research and development facility overseas in Berlin.
The Wall Street Journal reported Calisolar is reneging on deals with business partners and that the price of silicon has dropped dramatically.
“The company is stable,” Jester said.
The process
The Columbus operation will house both parts of the process, Jester said.
One part of the plant will produce metallurgical grade silicon by combining wood, quartz and coal in a large arc furnace.
She said Calisolar’s arc furnace is similar to the one at Columbus’ Severstal plant.
After the product emerges from the furnace, it is fed into the purification plant, where the metallurgical silicon is combined with aluminum, which draws out any imperfections.
The finished product is sold to customers.
The metallurgical part of the plant will be built first, she said.
Bidding out the project
Jester said Calisolar is collecting construction bids and getting ready to build.
The company has signed an engineering and project management contract with San Antonio-based Zachry Holdings Inc., Zachry spokeswoman Cathy Green said Thursday morning.
Joe Max Higgins, executive director for the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link, confirmed Wednesday that plans are going forward.
Calisolar representatives spent three days in Mississippi last week, Higgins said. Two were spent working on infrastructure specifications and building layout and design, and the third was spent in Jackson meeting with Gov. Phil Bryant and legislators.
The Link and Calisolar are working through a memorandum of understanding, a document that outlines the responsibilities of each party, Higgins said.
The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors should get a final draft in mid-February for approval, Higgins said. Once approved, the document will be released to the public.
Moving dirt and moving in
Jester and Higgins predicted construction will begin in May.
The plant is expected to open in the second half of 2013, Jester said.
“We’re extremely happy to be coming to Columbus,” she said.
The plant will bring 900 jobs with annual salaries of $45,000. The investment is $600 million, Higgins said.
The state Legislature approved $75.25 million in an incentive package in September for the company to come to Columbus. That included a $59.5 million loan for the building and equipment and $15.75 million for infrastructure and workforce training.
Calisolar plans to locate east of Industrial Park Road, directly behind Mitchell Beer Distributing, on 250 to 260 acres, the company announced in September.
Higgins said the facility will be about 800,000 square feet.
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