The opening of the first solar cell plant in Portugal is scheduled for the first quarter of 2010.

The new partner is a consortium comprising the Portuguese energy group Energias de Portugal (EDP), the state investment company Inovcapital, the banks Banco Espírito Santo, Banco Comercial Português and Banco Privado Atlântico, as well as the project developer DST Renováveis and the Visabeira Group, which is active in infrastructure industries.

The key features of the future partnership between CENTROSOLAR Group AG, which holds a 49% interest, and the consortium, which had previously been in negotiations with Qimonda about the remaining 51% interest have now been finalised.

The CENTROSOLAR Group will be able to meet approximately one-third of its demand for solar cells through Itarion, on what CENTROSOLAR calls “attractive terms”.