Munich, 20th October 2009 – Linde Nippon Sanso (LNS), a company of The Linde Group, has been awarded a long-term contract to supply gases for Bosch Solar’s new manufacturing site in Erfurt, Germany. Under the turnkey contract, Linde will provide high purity nitrogen from an on-site air separation unit and bulk oxygen. Bosch Solar, a Division of Bosch Group, produces crystalline Si solar cells at its site in Arnstadt near Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany.
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Formerly known as ersol, the Bosch Erfurt site is expanding with investment of more than 530 million Euro for the construction of a completely new facility to manufacture crystalline silicon solar cells. The facility was officially inaugurated in March 2009 and, when fully ramped up, the overall capacity of the site will reach 630 MWp (megawatt peak). The project is partly funded by the European Union and will create a significant number of new jobs.
“This latest contract further strengthens our relationship with Bosch, a leader in both thin-film and crystalline photovoltaic (PV) production,” says Andreas Guenther, President Linde Nippon Sanso. “We already supply Bosch Solar at this site in Arnstadt with specialty gases, as well as a wide range of gases to Bosch’s nearby thin-film facility.”
Over the past four years Linde has built a leading position in gases and chemical supply to both crystalline and thin-film silicon PV module manufacturers, in key markets including Germany, Spain, Italy, China, Taiwan and India. To date, Linde has partnered customers on projects with a target capacity of more than 6GWp (gigawatt peak), with European customers contributing 2GWp of that total. Linde is already well established as a key material supplier in the Erfurt area through its turnkey supply contract with thin-film PV manufacturer Masdar.
Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development. By encouraging the thin-film PV manufacturers to examine the carbon footprint of each step of the manufacturing and supply chain, Linde is helping to both reduce costs and move the industry towards achieving green parity.
About The Linde Group
The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with almost 50,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In the 2008 financial year it achieved sales of 12.7 billion Euro. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.
