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Thalheim (dpa / sa) - The Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Economics is supporting the construction of a new solar cell plant in Thalheim (Bitterfeld-Wolfen) with 22.5 million euros.
The ministry announced on Friday that production should start with several hundred employees as early as the second quarter of 2021.
The plant is being built by the Swiss company Meyer Burger Technology AG.
"The crisis in the solar industry more than ten years ago shaped the Solar Valley for a long time," said Economics Minister Armin Willingmann (SPD) on Friday.
Such large-scale settlements as the solar cell plant, however, prove that the Bitterfeld industrial area has developed into a dynamic future location.
The Solar Valley offers "all the prerequisites for a successful renaissance of the solar industry in Europe," added Gunter Erfurt, CEO of Meyer Burger Technology AG.
The "Solar Valley" was created 20 years ago and was one of the largest centers of the solar industry in Europe.
Numerous companies settled around the industry leader Q-Cells, there were up to 3500 jobs, also thanks to lavish state funding.
Then the competition for cheap solar modules from Asia caused the crisis.
Numerous companies went bankrupt, including Q-Cells.
It was taken over by the South Korean group Hanwha in 2012.
The production of the solar cells moved to Asia, research and development stayed in Thalheim.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210212-99-411824 / 2