Nov 13, 2006, 17:02 GMT
Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany - The empty shell of what was meant to be a German semiconductor factory financed from Dubai is to be converted into a plant making solar electricity panels, the new investor said Monday.
Hans-Martin Rueter, chief executive of Conergy, a German company that builds complete solar systems, said up to 500 people would be hired in the next five months at Frankfurt an der Oder, near the Polish border, to work in the new factory.
Hamburg-based Conergy said it would be the world's most technologically advanced production plant for solar modules.
The chequered history of the site goes back to communist days before 1989, when the city was an electronics centre.
As part of a late 1990s bid to revive that tradition, Dubai reportedly contributed equity of 250 million euros (320 million dollars) for a chip plant. The building went up, but the Communicant venture collapsed in 2003 and equipment was never installed.
Conergy is expected to invest 250 million euros in its project, with one seventh of the sum to come from European Union funds to promote economically weak regions. The district suffers from high unemployment.
Rueter said the site marked the biggest expansion in Conergy's eight-year history, with panels able to generate a total 250 megawatts set to be manufactured annually by 2008. All the components, many of them fragile, will be made at the site.
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