A long-term gas supply deal has been signed between Masdar PV and Linde Group, which also includes gas storage, distribution systems and on-site gas management services. Supplied gases include nitrogen (N2), hydrogen (H2), silane (SiH4) and chamber cleaning gases, as well as argon (Ar) and helium (He). Masdar PV is currently investing US$200 million in a thin-film plant in Erfurt, Germany.
“Linde has an outstanding reputation among PV manufacturers for the development of gas technology,” said Dr Rainer Gegenwart, CEO of Masdar PV GmbH. “Our company deals exclusively with strong, experienced partners with whom we can explore new areas such as the enhancement of environmental protection. Therefore, Linde is a key partner for us in this project.”
“Masdar’s goal to become a world leader in renewable energy resonates strongly with our own corporate philosophy. We look forward to acting as Masdar’s technology partner on this journey,” said Dr Aldo Belloni, member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. “This collaboration reinforces Linde’s commitment to the rapid development of sustainable energy, not only in the field of PV, but also in hydrogen, carbon capture & storage and biofuels.”
Masdar PV is using Applied Materials’ ‘SunFab’ thin-film technology aand plans to build a ‘copy exact’ plant in Taweelah near Abu Dhabi. Combined capacity when fully ramped is expected to be 210MW. Lessons learnt at the Erfurt plant will be migrated to the plant in Abu Dhabi.
