Fluor enables LDK Solar plant to reach production in 20 months

Fluor Corporation announced September 17 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.

About LDK Solar

LDK Solar Company Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, which are the principal raw material used to produce solar cells. LDK Solar sells multicrystalline wafers globally to manufacturers of photovoltaic products, including solar cells and solar modules. In addition, LDK Solar provides wafer processing services to monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cell and module manufacturers. LDK Solar's headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province in the People's Republic of China. LDK Solar's office in the United States is located in Sunnyvale, Calif.

About Fluor Corporation

Fluor Corporation designs, builds and maintains many of the world's most challenging and complex projects. Through its global network of offices on six continents, the company provides comprehensive capabilities and world-class expertise in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations, maintenance and project management. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Fluor is a FORTUNE 200 company and had revenues of $22.3 billion in 2008.