Consolidating Leadership in Photovoltaic Industry / Air Liquide becomes the main supplier to the three largest photovoltaic production sites worldwide

Munich (ots) - In a period of significant consolidation, leading
Photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers continue to invest in new capacity to
cope with the next phase of demand growth, expected during 2010.

In this context, Air Liquide significantly enhanced its leadership
position by signing several new contracts since January 2009 with
solar cell manufacturers in 5 countries and will invest globally
EUR13 million to meet the needs of those customers.

Amongst those, Air Liquide became the partner of two of the
largest solar science parks in the world, having a production
capacity of more than 1,000MW per year each:

- In Singapore, Air Liquide will supply all carrier and specialty
gases as well as on-site services to REC's new Gigawatt wafer
and solar cells production campus. This project is the largest
Photovoltaic investment underway in South-East Asia, with a
planned combined production of 1,500MW pa. REC is the world
leading supplier of Si materials to the PV industry with planned
Poly-Si and Si wafers global capacity of more than 20,000 tons
per year and 2,000MW per year respectively.

- In Wuxi, China, Air Liquide signed a contract to supply carrier
gases to Suntech Gigawatt-size existing facilities. Suntech is
the world's second largest solar cell manufacturer with
production capacity exceeding 1,000 MW pa.

Those two contracts, combined with the existing supply of the PV
market leader Q-Cells in the biggest production site worldwide in
Germany and also in Malaysia announced on 19 January 2009 make Air
Liquide the number one partner of the 3 largest production sites in
the world.

In parallel, multiple long-term supply contracts were awarded to
Air Liquide by Bosch-Ersol for its new Thin Film plant in Erfurt
(Germany) and by five new solar cell companies in Europe and Asia.

Francisco Martins, Vice-President World Business Line Electronics
of the Air Liquide Group, declared: «We are pleased to be the chosen
supplier of the three largest solar cells production campuses in the
world. These new signatures with PV market leaders confirm the
success of our solar global offer, reinforcing our number one
position in a fast-changing industry. The photovoltaic activity is at
the crossroads of Energy and the Environment, two growth drivers of
the Air Liquide Group. »

www.airliquide.com

Originaltext: Air Liquide
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