REC cites weak PV market conditions and the prospect of "significant negative cash flow" prompting it to consider shutdowns at two silicon production facilities and one solar cell fab in Norway.

September 28, 2011 -- The Board of Directors of Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) will initiate formal deliberations with employee representatives and other measures to assess permanently shutting down parts of its Norway photovoltaics production capacity.

REC cites weak PV market conditions and the prospect of "significant negative cash flow" in the decision. The announcement comes on the heels of an August decision wherein REC extended fab furloughs in Norway to the end of 2011.

At stake are the oldest multicrystalline wafer plant at Herøya, the multicrystalline wafer plant in Glomfjord and the solar cell plant in Narvik. This represents approximately 775MW of annual wafer capacity -- 45% of REC's wafer capacity in Norway -- as well as 180MW of solar cell capacity. Approximately 700 employees are expected to be affected by the potential shutdowns.

Operation will continue at the newest multicrystalline wafer plants at Herøya (650MW annual capacity); the monocrystalline plant in Glomfjord (300MW annual capacity); the Singapore integrated wafer, cell, and module facility (700MW annual module capacity; and the polysilicon plants in the US (19000 MT annual polySi capacity). REC will work to improve operation and reduce costs at these facilities.

The US and Singapore operations will give REC a "foundation for the future," said Ole Enger, president and CEO. Enger added that REC is working on regaining the competitiveness of its remaining Norwegian operations.

REC will assess and present its estimates for costs and write-downs in relation to the restructuring of the production plants in Norway in connection with the publication of the third quarter results on October 26th 2011. REC employs more than 3,900 people worldwide with revenues close to NOK 14 billion in 2010.

REC is a vertically integrated solar energy company. Please visit www.recgroup.com to learn more about REC.

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