HNA/HNB - notifiable trade
Hafslund has today swapped 2,647.916 Hafslund B-shares from own portfolio (equivalent to approx. 1.33% of total outstanding shares and approx. 3.26% of outstanding B-shares) against 2,647,916 shares in Scanwafer ASA (equivalent to approx. 12.5% of outstanding shares. Added to Hafslunds former portfolio of 3.6%, Hafslund now has an ownership share in Scanwafer on approx. 16.1% in Scanwafer ASA.
This swap contributes to strengthen Hafslund's position in a Norwegian industrial company world leading within its business sector.
Hafslunds portfolio of own B-shares is thus 1,429,281, which is approx. 1.79% of outstanding B-shares and approx. 0.73% of total outstanding shares. Hafslund has no own A-shares.
Oslo, 4 April 2003
For further information, please contact;
Tore Schiøtz, Manager, Hafslund Venture, tel. +47 915 21 719, or
Christian Berg, CFO, Hafslund ASA, tel. +47 22 43 57 01
Enclosure to notice to the stock exchanges;
About Scanwafer:
ScanWafer is one of the world's largest suppliers of silicon wafers to the solar energy industry and is dedicated to the promotion of increased use of renewable energy. As a cost effective producer of the main component in a photovoltaic cell, the wafer, ScanWafer strives to make solar energy a more reasonable energy alternative.
The company was founded in 1994 and has grown to become one of the world's largest producers of multicrystalline wafers. These are a key component in solar panels. In 2001, ScanWafer covered approximately 20 percent of all the supply of multicrystalline wafers to the world's solar energy- producers. Our customers are large global producers of solar cells.
The quality of a solar cell, and therefore also of a wafer, is measured by its efficiency. Only a small share of the sunlight that hits the solar cell may be converted into electricity and the bigger part that is converted the more effective solar cell. Today, the best multicrystalline wafers have an efficiency of 15 to 16 percent. ScanWafer delivers wafers in the upper part of this quality scale. We are continuously working to increase the quality and to reduce the production costs through technology development and other activities. A substantial amount of information is exchanged with our customers in order to utilise the experiences from the cell production to improve the wafer quality.
ScanWafer started wafer production at the end of 1997 in its factory in Glomfjord in northern Norway (Nordland County). At the end of 2000, this production line had a capacity of approximately 7 million square decimetre (dm2) of wafers. At an efficiency rate of 14 percent, this is sufficient to produce the equivalent of 10 MW electricity.
In 2001, ScanWafer's production capacity increased to 40 millions dm2, when the second production line was opened in Glomfjord. A second plant is under construction at Herøya in Porsgrunn. This plant will commence production during the 2nd quarter 2003 according to current plans.
The two newest production lines are far more efficient than at the first one. Together with the equipment suppliers, we have developed new and more cost effective production equipment. A new type of crystallisation furnace, or melting furnace, represents the biggest efficiency improvement, together with a higher degree of automation in other steps in the production process. ScanWafer has introduced recycling of production consumables, which is significant both for its environmental relevance and to decrease costs.
The quality of a solar cell, and therefore also of a wafer, is measured by its efficiency. Only a small share of the sunlight that hits the solar cell may be converted into electricity and the bigger part that is converted the more effective solar cell. Today, the best multicrystalline wafers have an efficiency of 15 to 16 percent. ScanWafer delivers wafers in the upper part of this quality scale. We are continuously working to increase the quality and to reduce the production costs through technology development and other activities. A substantial amount of information is exchanged with our customers in order to utilise the experiences from the cell production to improve the wafer quality.
ScanWafer started wafer production at the end of 1997 in its factory in Glomfjord in northern Norway (Nordland County). At the end of 2000, this production line had a capacity of approximately 7 million square decimetre (dm2) of wafers. At an efficiency rate of 14 percent, this is sufficient to produce the equivalent of 10 MW electricity.
In 2001, ScanWafer's production capacity increased to 40 millions dm2, when the second production line was opened in Glomfjord. A second plant is under construction at Herøya in Porsgrunn. This plant will commence production during the 2nd quarter 2003 according to current plans.
The two newest production lines are far more efficient than at the first one. Together with the equipment suppliers, we have developed new and more cost effective production equipment. A new type of crystallisation furnace, or melting furnace, represents the biggest efficiency improvement, together with a higher degree of automation in other steps in the production process. ScanWafer has introduced recycling of production consumables, which is significant both for its environmental relevance and to decrease costs.