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March 19, 2008
Munich,
Germany: Linde to Supply Gases to Thin Film Manufacturing Plant
Linde
Nippon Sanso (LNS), a company of The Linde Group, has signed an
exclusive contract with Malibu GmbH & Co. KG in Bielefeld, Germany,
to supply all of the gases needed to make amorphous silicon thin
film photovoltaic modules.
The
long term contract comprises over-the-fence supply of nitrogen
(N2), hydrogen (H2), silane (SiH4), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3),
argon (Ar), and helium (He). The turnkey installation includes
a complete gas distribution network and gas leak detection system.
LNS will also provide on-site gas and chemical management services.
Additionally, Linde and Malibu have entered into a Joint Development
Programme for the development of advanced gas technology to improve
cell efficiency, throughput and yield. Malibu is a joint venture
between energy service provider E.ON and Schuco, a major worldwide
provider of building envelope systems.
"This
contract shall prove to be strategically invaluable for Linde's
fast growing Photovoltaic business", said Dr. Aldo Belloni, member
of the Executive Board of Linde AG. "The joint development programme
will allow us to further develop our gas technology and to contribute
to reducing the cost per watt in solar cell production", added
Andreas Ganther, president of Linde Nippon Sanso.
Using
the innovative thin-film technology, Malibu will initially construct
a 40 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic module production line in Osterweddingen,
Germany, incorporating multi-layer cell technology for increased
efficiency. As the plant is scheduled to increase in size, Linde
will add N2, H2 and fluorine (F2) on-site plants.
The
Linde Group is a gases and engineering company with around 50,000
employees working in about 100 countries and achieved sales in
the 2007 financial year of EUR 12.3 billion. The strategy of The
Linde Group is geared towards earnings-based growth and focuses
on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking
products and services.
Further details about: Linde Group
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