SINGAPORE (Kyodo) — Norway's Renewable Energy Corp. will build a S$6.3 billion (about $4.3 billion) solar manufacturing complex in Singapore that will be the largest in the world, the company said Friday.

 

The complex will be an integrated facility that will produce solar wafers, cells and modules, which are parts of solar panels, and will also conduct research and development.

 

It ''will have the potential of becoming the world's largest complex of its kind,'' the company said in a statement.

 

When fully developed, the manufacturing complex could hold a production capacity of up to 1.5 gigawatts annually, compared to a total global industry output of 2 gigawatts last year.

 

The company, headquartered in Oslo, has signed an agreement with Singapore's Economic Development Board to commit to investment to build the plant.

 

The investment will be over five years, and the plant, located in the western part of Singapore, is expected to begin production by 2010. The plant is expected to employ 3,000 workers.

 

''This project will catapult Singapore into the solar industry world map. It will be a powerful boost to accelerate the development of the new solar industry in Singapore,'' said the EDB's managing director Ko Kheng Hwa.