Air Products (NYSE:APD) today announced it has signed, through its subsidiary Air Products San Fu Co. Ltd. in Taiwan, a long-term contract to provide nitrogen to NexPower Technology Corporation (NexPower), at its new thin-film photovoltaic (PV) facility in the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) in Houli, Taichung, Taiwan. Air Products is supplying nitrogen to NexPower's facility through its pipeline network in the CTSP.
Founded by the UMC Group, a leading global semiconductor foundry, NexPower is a world-class thin-film PV manufacturer in Taiwan with its own product development, research and development, and manufacturing. By ramping up to 100MW within only 18 months, NexPower is one of the first Taiwan companies to achieve successful thin-film mass production.
"Air Products is excited to be NexPower's gas supply partner. This new contract demonstrates our leading position in the thin-film PV market and is a testimony to our capabilities to enable a fast ramp up to meet customers' needs," said Corning Painter, Air Products' vice president and general manager, Global Electronics Division. "Our expertise in thin-film PV applications and SunSource Solutions help our PV customers to drive down their cost-per-watt through enhanced plant efficiency."
The CTSP, which includes Taichung, Houli, Huwei and Erlin park stations, is one of the two new government-sponsored science parks in Taiwan to attract investments and the development of high-tech industries to the central Taiwan district.
Last year, Air Products won more than 20 new contracts in Asia serving both the crystalline and thin-film PV markets and has since signed gas supply contracts with leading PV manufacturers including Best Solar and CHINT Solar in China, Green Energy Technology in Taiwan, and HHV Solar and Jupiter Solar in India. Air Products' long-standing history serving the semiconductor and thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) industries from their inception to current times makes it ideally suited to serving the thin-film PV industry.
With the demand for renewable energy and improved efficiency on the rise, Air Products is well positioned to support these developing markets with its expertise and project experience in areas including large-scale hydrogen supply for cleaner transportation fuels, developmental work on the hydrogen economy, hydrogen vehicle fuelling and infrastructure, leading natural gas liquefaction technology, and now the growing supply of gases and services for the photovoltaic industry.