Borouge and Borealis, leading providers of plastics solutions, have launched Quentys, a new umbrella brand created to potentially revolutionise the solar energy industry by making applications more affordable, reliable, and durable.

As leading providers of polyolefin compounds for the global wire and cable industry for over 50 years, Borouge and Borealis are now widening the scope of their energy industry endeavours to include solar, said a statement.

UAE-based Borouge is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc)  and Austria-based Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions.

By 2025 solar is expected to have the highest global annual capacity added of all energy sources, reaching over 100 Gigawatt (GW) capacity added per year.

Borealis and Borouge are leveraging their decades of experience in the energy sector, and forming new strategic partnerships along the entire solar value chain, in order to deliver step-change innovations to the market, said a Borealis statement.

This innovative force is now being unleashed in the field of solar, where new material solutions based on unique and proprietary technologies have been developed for applications such as backsheets and encapsulant films. These step-change innovations in the Quentys family improve the operational reliability of photovoltaic (PV) modules, reduce processing complexity, and extend the lifetime of PV panels.

The first wave of new products developed in partnership with a leading solar industry partner will be launched shortly.

Borealis and Borouge are applying their material expertise to make solar power even more affordable and efficient. For example, single-step production technologies reduce manufacturing complexity and thus costs. Innovative materials increase both output and lifespan of PV modules. These are key to maintaining the market momentum currently enjoyed by renewables, as documented by the International Energy Agency (IEA), said the statement.

In 2015, the IEA predicted that by 2050, solar will provide 16 per cent of the world's electric power, significantly more than the 11 per cent it had forecast in 2010. Moreover, the levellised cost – meaning the all-in cost of installing and operating a renewable energy system over its entire lifetime – of electricity for renewables is falling.

Alfred Stern, executive vice president, polyolefins and innovation and technology, Borealis, said that as a global innovation leader, the company’s mission is to keep discovering new ways of applying its experience and know-how to future growth sectors.

He added that the company’s new brand will be the foundation for a range of exciting new products and applications that will make solar more affordable and more widely available.

Wim Roels, chief executive officer, Borouge, noted that the launch of Quentys reflects its strong commitment towards sustainability and creating value for its customers with proprietary innovations.

Roels further added that the new solar brand is an enabler for the company to contribute towards the development of the solar energy sector by providing innovative, credible and profitable solutions for the solar industry. - TradeArabia News Service