Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong opened one of the world's largest integrated solar manufacturing facilities, a Norwegian investment, in Tuas.

The S$2.5 billion facility, built by Renewable Energy Corporation (REC), is the largest clean tech investment ever made in the city-state, and the third largest foreign green field investment ever made by a Norwegian company.

Lee said REC's new complex would be a key piece in Singapore's clean energy strategy, in which it identified the sector as a major growth area for its economy in 2007.

He said the opening of the facility today marked a milestone in the development of the clean energy sector in Singapore, and he was confident that sector would see strong growth.

The facility produces more than 190,000 modules per month with a competitive cell efficiency target of 16.8 per cent by 2011.

REC said the module delivers more power per square metre due to several design improvements, resulting in approximately seven per cent improved energy output.

It added that the modules produced at the Tuas facility in 2011 could throughout their lifetime offset 25 million tons of CO2 from coal-fired power plants or produces enough electricity to meet the yearly energy needs of 150,000 Singaporean households.

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

Source : Bernama