U.S. President Barack H. Obama today announced that Dow Corning Corporation and the Hemlock Semiconductor Group will receive approximately $169 million in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for recently announced manufacturing projects supporting the growing solar technology industry.
The tax credits include $141.9 million for Hemlock Semiconductor's recently announced expansion of its Michigan polycrystalline silicon operations, and $27.3 million for a monosilane plant Dow Corning is building.
"These manufacturing tax credits are a critical step in establishing new clean-technology manufacturing jobs to the United States," said Stephanie A. Burns, chairman, president and CEO of Dow Corning. "This bold investment will propel America into an era of sustained, renewable energy use and help put Americans back to work."
"Green jobs are real, and this announcement shows that the United States is serious about becoming a global leader in alternative energy technologies," said Rick Doornbos, Hemlock Semiconductor president and CEO. "Hemlock Semiconductor is creating more than 1500 jobs while investing billions of dollars in Michigan and Tennessee and will continue to grow as the country and world commit to a clean energy future."
The tax credits received by Dow Corning and Hemlock Semiconductor were part of $2.3 billion in tax credits targeted at "putting Americans back to work by building a robust domestic manufacturing capacity to supply clean and renewable energy projects." Burns recently commended a December proposal by President Obama to provide another $5 billion in tax credits to this program.
Dow Corning's silicon-based materials are used in solar cell manufacturing, solar module assembly and installation. In the past five years, Dow Corning and its joint ventures, the Hemlock Semiconductor Group, have announced investments of more than $5 billion to research and develop as well as to expand production of materials critical to the solar industry.