High Purity Quartz Sand Prices Crash

News Briefs Aug 21- Quartz Sand Price Drop, Engie’s Victoria PV Plant, Lighsource bp

By Saur News Bureau/ Updated On Wed, Aug 21st, 2024

News In Brief: Ecofy Partners With Swelect, TOYO Secures $150 Mn Contract

Lightsource bp In Tie-up with German Developer for 500MWp Of Solar In Germany

Solar and battery storage developer Lightsource bp, which has a target of 500 MW of solar in Germany by 2030, has signed an agreement with German developer Kajoni Energie to build over 500MWp of solar PV capacity in the country.

Kajoni will be in charge of siting projects and procuring local permissions to achieve ready-to-build status, while Lightsource bp will wholly own the projects once they start construction.

Engie Achieves Financial Close for 250MW Victoria Project

Italian Utility giant Engie’s Australian subsidiary has achieved financial close for its 250MW Goorambat East Solar project in northern Victoria. The planned project is around 500 metres east of Goorambat and 12km north of Benalla in Victoria. It lies between the regional centres of Shepparton and Wangaratta and will utilise 630 hectares of land.

Generation is expected to start by early 2027.

High-purity quartz sand prices Drop over 75% in 2024

Reflecting the uncertainty in the solar supply chain, where overcapacity has plagued manufacturers in 2024, High purity quartz crystal prices have also slumped over 75% since the beginning of the year. A vital part of the panel manufacturing process, high-purity quartz sand is used for producing PV quartz crucibles .These PV quartz crucibles are used to hold molten polysilicon. The natural quartz sand used in their construction must have a purity above 99%, and the crucibles need to be replaced after about 350 hours of use.

Based on a Chinese brokerage report, the cost of high-purity PV quartz crucibles accounts for about 13% of non-silicon cost. It is one of the major non-silicon costs of wafers. The cost of high-purity quartz sand, which is the primary material in crucible production, accounts for 62% of the cost of PV quartz crucibles.