September 20, 2007

Alexandra Boy
Corporate Press
Phone	+49 201 1 77-3167
Fax	+49 201 1 77-3030
alexandra.boy@evonik.com

Reinhard Scheiler
Corporate Press
Phone	+49 201 1 77-4299
Fax	+49 201 1 77-3030
reinhard.scheiler@evonik.com
One step further into the growing photovoltaics market

Evonik Industries and Dutch Company TSM Plan Construction of the First Integrated Solar Silicon Production Facility in the Netherlands 

Evonik Industries and Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands-based The Silicon Mine (TSM) are planning to build the first integrated production facility for solar silicon in the Netherlands. For this purpose, the two partners recently signed a letter of intent. In this integrated production network, Evonik's Chemicals division will manufacture Siridion® chlorosilanes, from which TSM will produce high purity solar silicon for the photovoltaics industry. Evonik will invest a high double-digit million euro amount.

"We see solar silicon as a large market with growth over the next few years. In the mid-term, we aim to take hundreds of millions of euros in order to expand our good position massively in this attractive market," says Dr. Klaus Engel, member of the management board of Evonik Industries AG and responsible for the Chemicals division.

The integrated facility is being built at the DSM site in the municipality of Sittard-Geleen in Limburg province, one of the most important industrial zones in the Netherlands. At the site, Evonik Industries produces its high purity Siridion®* chlorosilanes, which are converted by TSM into high purity solar silicon by means of the well-proven Siemens deposition process: “The synergies of optimized integrated production between the partners Evonik Industries and TSM at one of Europe's largest chemical sites form the basis for the success of the project,” explains Dr. Dietmar Wewers, head of Evonik's Silanes Business Line.

Creating at least 400 jobs, TSM is planning an annual production of 3,750 metric tons of high purity solar silicon at the site in Sittard-Geleen: “That corresponds to 5 percent of the world market volume forecast for 2010,” underlines Gosse Boxhoorn, chairman of the management board of TSM, adding that annual production capacity could be increased in the long term even to 14,000 metric tons of solar silicon.

Evonik Industries AG is the world's largest producer of high purity chlorosilanes. These are raw materials in the production of solar silicon, which is itself used to produce solar wafers. The photovoltaics industry then processes these wafers into solar cells and modules.

Evonik Industries AG has been successfully involved in the booming photovoltaics market for several years. In April of this year, Evonik concluded an agreement with the French company Silicium de Provence (Silpro) for a similar integrated production of 4,000 metric tons per year of solar silicon. The following month, it signed jointly with PV Silicon, Erfurt, a long-term supply agreement to provide the 1,800-metric-ton solar silicon production facility currently under construction in Bitterfeld with Siridion® chlorosilanes. As early as 2002, the company established, with SolarWorld AG of Bonn, the joint venture Joint Solar Silicon GmbH & Co. KG headquartered in Freiberg, Saxony. It will produce 850 metric tons per year of solar silicon from monosilane at Evonik's Rheinfelden site.

* Siridion® is Evonik Industries AG's brand name for chlorosilanes. Siridion® stands for the highest product quality and customer satisfaction, due not least to its advantages of purity, cooperation, and reliability.

Company information
Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group from Germany which operates in three business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In its fiscal year 2006 more than 43,000 employees generated sales of about Euro 14.8 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of over Euro 1.2 billion. 
Disclaimer

In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this press release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release.