Norwegian polysilicon manufacturer REC Silicon has appointed William Kurtis Levens as its new CEO, taking over from James May who was appointed as interim CEO in November 2021.
Levens has been the longest-standing executive at the company with more than 15 years of senior management experience.
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The appointment of the new CEO comes weeks after the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has provided major upsides to the reopening of REC Silicon’s Moses Lake polysilicon production facility in the US, which is due to restart production in Q4 2023.
Koo Yung Lee, chairman of the board of directors, said: “Mr. Levens has been part of the leadership team since 2005 and brings a wealth of experience in the field of polysilicon and silicon gases. He has demonstrated his ability to building successful organisation [sic] and businesses.”
James May was appointed as interim CEO on November 2021, after Tore Torvund stepped down from his role after 12 years in the position, and after turning 70 years.
The manufacturer recently signed several supply agreements for raw materials with Mississippi Silicon in August and with silicon metal provider Ferroglobe in June.
Last year, South Korean chemical company Hanwha Solutions Corporation bought a large stake in REC Silicon and was looking into reopening the Moses Lake factory at the time.
REC Silicon has an annual production capacity of more than 20,000MT of polysilicon between its two US-based manufacturing plants.