OREANDA-NEWS. August 15, 2008. The Alfa-Bank is authorized to act as arranger for the Nitol Solar operated project of semicrystalline silicon production in Russia. The total sum of up to USD 190 million will be spent for construction of unique and presently the country’s sole enterprise of this nature. The transaction is to be closed in September of 2008, reported the press-centre of Alfa-Bank.

Semicrystalline silicon is the main raw material used to produce the components of solar batteries. Its production will encourage both further development of the alternative power generation technologies and mastering of a new field by the Russian industry in general.

“The Alfa-Bank is actively developing the project financing in Russia”, as Veniamin Gutnikov, the Vice-President said. “We see a strong potential in our collaboration with Nitol Solar, and consider this project attractive and promising. By various assessments, the Nitol Solar project is one of the most large-scale and innovative in Russia. I am confident that this company will get the leading positions at the solar energy market in the nearest future”.

The project is expected to be of great importance for the Russian economy in general. The shortage of the raw material in question is so considerable that an idea of its production appeals many of international investors even at this stage. During the previous six months, the Nitol Solar has been joined by two new shareholders — Suntech Power Holdings Co., the world major player of solar industry, and the World Bank represented by the International Finance Corporation.

The worldwide demand for alternative sources of power is rapidly growing, and production of semicrystalline silicon therefore has a long-term growth potential. The first industrial samples of semicrystalline silicon have been produced in spring of 2008. They have been already examined by one of independent foreign laboratories and provided with consumers? opinion upon industrial testing. The Nitol Solar is going to launch the enterprise at the end of 2009 in the town of Usolie-Sibirskoye, the Irkutsky Oblast. Its scheduled capacity is 3,700 tons of semicrystalline silicon per year.