The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate has granted strategic project status to RESiLICON’s planned 13 GW polysilicon production facility in Groningen under the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA). Located in Farmsum, the renewable-powered plant aims to bolster Europe’s energy sovereignty by providing a local source of ultra-pure polysilicon for the solar, battery, and semiconductor sectors. This designation prioritizes the project at a national level, streamlining administrative processes and accelerating permitting to reduce the region’s heavy reliance on Chinese imports and support long-term decarbonization goals.
The RESiLICON project represents a significant step toward securing the European Union’s supply of critical raw materials. By achieving strategic status under the NZIA framework, the facility in Farmsum will benefit from “rapid administrative treatment,” a move designed to fast-track the development of essential net-zero technologies. The plant is expected to produce 26 kilotons of polysilicon annually—equivalent to 13 GW of solar capacity—using metallurgical-grade silicon as its primary feedstock.
Utilizing the established Siemens process, the factory will manufacture N11-grade ultra-pure polysilicon. This high-purity material is essential for high-performance solar cell architectures, such as heterojunction (HJT) and TOPCon, as well as for the semiconductor and battery industries. To enhance sustainability, RESiLICON has secured exclusive regional rights to Advanced Material Systems (AMS) technology. This innovation, already proven in markets like South Korea and India, is capable of reducing the energy consumption of polysilicon production by approximately 30%.
The initiative comes at a critical time for the European solar industry, which currently faces a massive supply chain imbalance. With more than 85% of the world’s polysilicon production concentrated in China, Europe remains vulnerable to market fluctuations and geopolitical risks. While Germany’s Wacker Chemie remains a key player, its recent shift toward the semiconductor sector has left a gap in local solar-grade production that RESiLICON aims to fill.
Beyond manufacturing, RESiLICON is collaborating with research institutions like the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) to advance next-generation wafer production and other manufacturing technologies. Having successfully completed its initial feasibility study, the project is now transitioning into the basic engineering phase. Once operational, the Groningen facility is expected to create numerous high-skilled jobs and serve as a cornerstone for a more resilient, green-powered industrial base in Europe.