Huge Investment in Saemankeum

OCI plans to put 20 tln won into Saemankeum Ind. Complex to produce raw materials for solar batteries

OCI Co. announced on Aug. 17 that it has signed an agreement with the Saemankeum Free Economic Zone Authority and the Korea Agriculture and Fishery Corp. providing for its investment of 10 trillion won in the Saemankeum Industrial Complex until 2020.
OCI officials said their company will be able to spur its plans to meet the challenge to become a new and leading chemical firm in the first half of this century, just as they have done over the past 50 years, by setting up plants in an area of 1.55 million square meters in the industrial complex.
OCI plans to build core raw materials for solar power plants such as polysilicon, nanosilica and carbon materials and other high-tech raw materials plants to secure its sustainable growth engines by making investments in the industrial complex.
When the projected plant for 8,000 tons of polysilicon production is completed in 2011, the company’s current annual production capacity of the product will rise to 35,000 tons per year, making it the largest polysilicon supplier in the world and strengthening its position as the leader in the solar power industry, which is expected to grow ever larger in the days to come.
OCI also is considering the construction of a combined heat and power plant as part of its strategy to maximize synergy created among raw materials and the supply of energy and locate mutually supplementary products effectively. An investment fund of 10 trillion won that the OCI plans to plough into its projects in the industrial complex by 2020 is equivalent to an investment large enough to build a steel plant capable of turning out 10 million tons of steel per year, the officials said.
When the projected plant is built with 10 trillion won in investment by 2020, the plant will be able to produce enough polysilicon to make enough solar batteries to generate 14 Gw of power, equivalent to 14 nuclear power plants.
OCI plans to build a green high-tech industrial complex that can generate new recycled energy with products made at the Saemankeum Industrial Complex.
OCI has been making a contribution to the economy of the Gunsan region in North Jeolla Province with its polysilicon plant and its expansion by employing 1,300 workers.
The company stands to make further contributions to the local economy with its investments in Saemankeum by creating over 4,000 new jobs and 5 million indirect jobs to not only revitalize the local economy, but also to make a tremendous contribution to the country’s low-carbon and green growth strategies by leading the construction of a new renewable energy cluster. nw

(from right)) Officials involved with OCI signing an MOU on Aug. 17 for its investment in the Saemankeum Industrial Complex in the photo are Commissioner Lee Choon-hi of the Saemankeum Free Economic Zone Authority, right, Pres. Paek Woo-sok of OCI, 2nd R, Gov. Kim Wan-joo of North Jeolla Province, 3rd R, Rep. Kang bong-kyun, 4th R, and Mayor Moon Dong-shin of Gunsan, 5th R, among others.