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Wacker Chemie AG

WACKER and SCHOTT set up joint venture to produce solar wafers

Munich / Mainz (euro adhoc) -

Joint Press Release by WACKER and SCHOTT - SCHOTT WACKER Solar to 
produce multicrystalline silicon wafers for solar cells - €370 
million investment to create at least 700 new jobs - Production 
start-up in 2007 - Capacity expansion phased to reach 1 gigawatt per 
year by 2012
  ots.CorporateNews transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible for
  the content of this announcement.
companies
August 2nd, 2007 - Wacker Chemie AG and
SCHOTT Solar, a 100 percent subsidiary of the worldwide SCHOTT group,
plan to set up two joint ventures to produce and market silicon 
wafers for solar applications. WACKER and SCHOTT signed a related 
agreement today. Over the next years, the two partners plan to invest
a total of EUR370 million in facilities in Jena (Thuringia) and 
Alzenau (Bavaria), creating at least 700 new jobs at these German 
sites. The project is subject to approval by the German and European 
authorities. The joint venture - SCHOTT WACKER Solar GmbH - is 
scheduled to start operations this year. It will produce 
multicrystalline silicon ingots and wafers, the starting material for
solar cells. Solar-wafer production capacity is set to expand in 
stages, reaching about one gigawatt/year by 2012. This will make the 
joint venture one of the world´s five largest solar-wafer 
manufacturers.
Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker, Wacker Chemie AG´s president & CEO, 
emphasized the joint venture´s importance for his company. "WACKER is
the world's second-largest supplier of hyperpure polycrystalline 
silicon and a pioneer in the manufacture of solar-grade polysilicon. 
Our forward integration - with a strong partner - into solar-wafer 
production is vital to our strategy of creating corporate value in 
this growth sector. The recently announced expansions of our 
polysilicon production capacity to more than 22,000 metric tons per 
year ensure the joint venture´s starting material supply."
Prof. Udo Ungeheuer, president & CEO of SCHOTT, stated that he was 
extremely pleased about the new joint venture. "Given polysilicon´s 
actual global scarcity, a reliable supply of this raw material is 
essential to SCHOTT Solar´s ambitious growth targets in the 
photovoltaic sector," he explained. "Combined with our current 
capacity expansions for solar cells and modules in Alzenau and 
Valasské Mezirící in the Czech Republic, the joint venture will play 
a decisive role in strengthening SCHOTT Solar´s position as one of 
the world´s leading manufacturers of solar-energy components."
WACKER will supply SCHOTT WACKER Solar GmbH with the hyperpure 
polycrystalline silicon it needs to produce wafers. The major part of
the joint venture´s wafers will be used by SCHOTT Solar to make solar
cells. Solar wafers, however, will also be sold to other solar-cell 
producers in order to capitalize on growth opportunities and related 
scale effects. To this end, WACKER and SCHOTT plan to establish a 
separate joint venture, WACKER SCHOTT Solar GmbH.
WACKER and SCHOTT each will hold a 50 percent equity stake in the 
production joint venture SCHOTT WACKER Solar GmbH, while in the sales
joint venture WACKER will hold 51 percent and SCHOTT 49 percent. The 
production joint venture includes SCHOTT's existing facilities in 
Alzenau for producing solar wafers and those in Jena for producing 
multicrystalline silicon ingots. SCHOTT WACKER Solar plans to expand 
the existing production and to set up new facilities for blocking and
wafering.
At its SmartSolarFab® in Alzenau, SCHOTT manufactures wafers using 
its advanced EFG process (Edge defined Film-fed Growth). This method 
differs from the conventional approach where silicon wafers are sawn 
from an ingot. Instead, a silicon film in the form of an octagonal 
hollow tube is pulled directly from the silicon melt. A laser then 
cuts out the wafers. The EFG process delivers several advantages. It 
greatly reduces material loss, for example, and features a highly 
efficient use of silicon.
SCHOTT in Brief SCHOTT (www.schott.com) is an international 
technology group that sees its core purpose as the lasting 
improvement of living and working conditions. For this purpose 
special materials, components and systems are developed. The main 
areas of focus are the household appliances industry, optics and 
opto-electronics, pharmaceuticals and solar energy. SCHOTT is one of 
the world´s leading manufacturers of photovoltaic components. The 
SCHOTT Group has a presence in proximity to its customers through its
production and sales companies in all its major markets. It has 
approximately 16,800 employees producing worldwide sales of 
approximately 2.2 billion euros. The company´s technological and 
economic expertise is closely linked with its social and ecological 
responsibility.
WACKER in Brief WACKER (www.wacker.com) is a globally active chemical
company headquartered in Munich. With a wide range of 
state-of-the-art specialty products, WACKER is a leader in numerous 
industrial sectors. Its products are required in many high-growth 
end-user sectors such as photovoltaics, electronics, pharmaceuticals 
and household/personal care products. The Group´s WACKER POLYSILICON 
business division is the world's second-largest producer of hyperpure
polycrystalline silicon for the semiconductor and photovoltaic 
industries. In 2006, WACKER Group posted sales of some EUR3.34 
billion, with approx. 80 percent being earned outside Germany. WACKER
has about 14,700 employees at (currently) 22 production sites in 
Europe, the Americas and Asia and at some 100 sales offices 
worldwide. Wacker Chemie AG´s shares (ISIN: DE000WCH8881) are listed 
on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
This press release contains forward-looking statements based on 
assumptions and estimates made by the executive boards of WACKER and 
SCHOTT. Although we assume the expectations in these forward-looking 
statements are realistic, we cannot guarantee they will prove to be 
correct. The assumptions may harbor risks and uncertainties that may 
cause the actual figures to differ considerably from the 
forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such discrepancies
include, among other things, changes in the economic and business 
environment, variations in exchange and interest rates, the 
introduction of competing products, lack of acceptance for new 
products or services, and changes in corporate strategy. Neither 
WACKER nor SCHOTT plans to update the forward-looking statements, nor
assumes the obligation to do so.
end of announcement                               euro adhoc 02.08.2007 12:30:18

Further inquiry note:

Wacker Chemie AG
Christof Bachmair
Media Relations and Information
Tel.: +49 (0)89 6279 1830
E-Mail: christof.bachmair@wacker.com

SCHOTT AG
Klaus Hofmann
Corporate Public Relations
Tel.: +49 (0) 6131 66-3662
klaus-bernhard.hofmann@schott.com

Branche: Chemicals
ISIN: DE000WCH8881
WKN: WCH888
Index: CDAX, Classic All Share, HDAX, MDAX, Midcap Market Index,
Prime All Share
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / official dealing/prime standard

Original-Content von: Wacker Chemie AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell

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