Major safety milestone for Fluor LDK solar project

IRVING, USA: Fluor Corp. announced that its polysilicon project in China for LDK Solar, the world-class solar wafer manufacturer, logged more than 2 million craft hours without a single safety incident effective through the end of April 2008. The LDK Polysilicon manufacturing facility, when complete, will be the largest polysilicon production facility of its kind in the world.

“This is a major accomplishment for everybody involved. Due to the large scope of this project, a considerable labor force is needed, and with the project expected to peak near 8,000 workers, it is essential to pay especial attention to safety,” said Ken Choudhary, vice president of Fluor’s chemicals business line.

The company implemented its “Zero Incident” program to educate employees and make them more aware of safe habits for work. Fluor applies this program to every project across the globe. The completed facility will be located in Xinyu City, Jiangxi, China, near LDK’s already existing solar wafer manufacturing facilities and headquarters. Construction began in August 2007 with an expected completion date of mid-2009.

Fluor is providing front-end engineering and design (FEED) and engineering, procurement, and construction-management (EPCM) services for the $1 billion project.

The growing demand for polysilicon-based renewable energy resources throughout the globe, coupled with Fluor’s world-class project management capabilities, has contributed to the company becoming a world leader in the polysilicon new-build arena. Fluor’s participation in the LDK project, as well as several other polysilicon projects all over the world, serves as evidence of the firm’s engineering-construction leadership in this growing market.