COMPANY
The Merano plant has a long history in the field of European (and worldwide) chemical industry:
1920s: Montecatini builds the factory for the production of fertilizers (ammonium sulphate, calcium nitrate, ammonium nitrate) due to the availability of cheap electric power and local raw materials.
1955 – 1972: Pilot processes are begun at the factory for the production of various types of substances such as beryllium oxide, metallic calcium, metallic lithium, lithium carbonate, hyperpure sodium and several semiconductor compounds.
1962: developed the first polysilicon reactor
1974: SMIEL is founded and the factory is completely restructured and reconverted for the exclusive production of hyperpure silicon – from polycrystal to the production of wafers.
2006-2010: with an investment of approximately 350 million dollars the Merano factory is further expanded to meet the growing demand for polycrystalline silicon in the solar photovoltaic market. The project essentially upgrade several sections of the existing chemical plant, expand the capacity installing an impressive chemical purification section, a new reactor room and several production units. The expansion has thus resulted in major building construction as well as work on plant systems, which were designed and built using the finest technologies available for minimizing risks, reduce the operating cost and environmental impact.
