REC expansion start delayed
The entry of REC Silicon in Moses Lake Thursday. The start-up date for an expanded portion of the facility called Plant 3 was delayed until March due to problems with pipe welds. Photo by Lynne Lynch/Columbia Basin Herald
MOSES LAKE — Production in the expanded portion of REC Silicon’s Moses Lake plant was delayed because of problems with welds delivered from a third-party manufacturer.
The company intended to start production in the fourth quarter of 2008, but now production at Plant 3 is expected to start in the second half of March, said Goran Bye, the plant’s former executive vice president, on Thursday.
In December, the company discovered quality problems with welds used for process and utility pipe in the gas refinery, he explained. There’s more than 50 miles of pipe in the plant.
Several thousand welds needed to be repaired, which took time to complete the necessary work.
The company is “keen on the process of safety,” Bye explained.
“That’s why we take the extra effort to make sure it’s safe,” he noted.
According to the company, the delay “should have limited negative effect on the production level further downstream for REC in the first quarter as long as external sourcing of polysilicon continues successfully.”
Plant 3 has the capacity of producing two and a half times the current production.
The facility’s next portion to be expanded is another gas refinery and is called Plant 4. Plant 4 should be operational by early 2010.
The Columbia Basin Herald was unable to reach Bye’s successor Tore Torvund for comment.
“As previously stated, start-up and ramp-up of a large chemical plant is a complex task, and some interruptions should be expected in an early phase,” stated Erik Thorsen, REC’s president and CEO. “We hope, however, that our extensive testing and preparations will reduce the risk to some extent.”
The company refines and purifies silicon and sells it in different shapes, either in a hard matter or as a gas.
The gas is called silane, which is used in the production of electronics like TVs and flat computer screens.