By Renewable Energy Focus staff

REC intends to halt production at the oldest solar wafer plants at Herøya and at the solar cell plant in Narvik, both in Norway.

In addition, REC branded solar modules will not be manufactured under contract by third parties in the third quarter.

Solar wafer production will be cut by 125 MW in the third quarter, representing 30% of the solar wafer capacity in Norway in the quarter, while solar cell and module production will be reduced by approximately 50 MW.

The reductions could affect 300 employees at Herøya and 200 employees in Narvik through temporary lay-offs.

Polysilicon production in the US and solar wafer, cell and module production in Singapore will not be affected by these measures, however.