Major construction and engineering firm Fluor Corporation has been awarded the contract to build the Shaanxi Non-Ferrous Tian Hong REC Silicon Materials Co., Ltd., (TianREC) fluidised bed reactor polysilicon plant in China.

REC Silicon entered into a JV to circumvent import duties imposed on overseas polysilicon producers in retaliation to US anti-dumping duties. REC Silicon has all of its polysilicon production in the US.

The TianREC polysilicon plant is expected to cost around US$1 billion with 18,000MT (metric tons) of granular polysilicon production capacity as well as an additional 1,000MT of Siemens polysilicon and 500MT of silane gas loading.

“This project award reconfirms Fluor’s global leadership in the engineering, procurement and construction of polysilicon and silane gas processing plants and our ongoing positive capital project experience and relationship with REC Silicon,” said Ken Choudhary, president of Fluor’s Energy & Chemicals business in the Asia Pacific region.

REC Silicon is using a new 3,000MT third generation FBR plant in the US to act as the proving ground for the large-scale plant in China.