CM. “Technological sovereignty is of fundamental importance now. Hence the next question. How independent is the production of solar cells in Russia – in terms of technologies, materials and components? How can we make our solar production independent of those who today consider themselves monopolists?
I.Sh. – You are right, in modern conditions it is very important. It is in order to reduce the dependence of Russian renewable energy on imported raw materials and materials that we are building our own production of silicon wafers and solar cells. There are also plans to localize the production of polysilicon.
The development of solar energy has already provided the emergence in Russia of such related industries as solar cable, grid inverters, silver-coated busbars, conductive silver paste, provided additional capacity for manufacturers of glass, copper wire, etc.
It is important to understand the entire production chain here. At the head of everything is quartzite. We have quartzite mines in Russia, for example, in Buryatia - Cheremshansky quartzite. Metallurgical silicon is produced from it, with a quality of 3-4 nines. We have two silicon plants, in Siberia and in the Urals. From this silicon, polysilicon is produced using various technologies, from which, in turn, monosilicon is produced. This is exactly the product that is needed for the production of solar cells. Ingots are produced according to the Czochralski method, these ingots are cut into plates, and photovoltaic cells are made from the plates. The cell is connected to a conductive bus and encapsulated in a module. Well, then solar modules, as well as inverters, transformers, solar trackers and SNEs are connected in a “solar park”. Here's the entire chain
Let's clarify what we already have if we are talking about technological sovereignty.
In Russia, there is metallurgical silicon, there is the production of plates, cells, modules, and electrical equipment. Perhaps there are no tracker systems yet. The production of solar glass is gradually developing - there are two types of them - rear and front. The rear glass is necessary to obtain an anti-reflection effect and generate energy reflected from snow, sand, depending on where the module is located.
From the main there is no polysilicon in industrial volumes. It is necessary to build a plant for the production of polysilicon with a capacity of at least 10,000 tons. In order, firstly, the plant pays off, and secondly, it is needed for our domestic Russian consumption. Now approximately 70% of all polysilicon is produced in China, as well as in Germany, the USA, and Korea. At the current stage, we are forced to buy polysilicon in foreign markets.
CM. – A new ENKOR plant is being built in the Kaliningrad region. Why there? Is it done with the expectation of foreign markets? But now, so far, the geopolitical and foreign trade situation is not very favorable, and I suspect that there may be logistical difficulties with the supply of raw materials to this production facility. How do you assess these risks?
I.Sh. – The Kaliningrad region is a dynamically developing region with attractive conditions for investors. In the same place, in fact, our colleagues are building the
RENERA plant.