Diamond Foundry Plant Targets 10M Carats per Year

RAPAPORT... Lab-grown brand Diamond Foundry plans to open a new production site in Spain at a cost of EUR 740 million ($868 million).The facility will use entirely solar electricity, taking advantage of the Extremadura region's plentiful sunlight, the company said this month. Diamond synthesis will start in 2024, with the aim of reaching 10 million carats in annual output, serving both the jewelry and the semiconductor sectors.Diamond Foundry's first factory, in San Francisco, uses purely hydroelectric power. However, this type of energy is a limited resource, while solar power is widely available, the company pointed out.The company is planning a 120-megawatt solar installation supported by battery storage, with the solar farm covering 700 acres of land around the growth facility. It has partnered with Powen, which it described as Spain's leading developer of sun-based projects."Solar energy is abundant in the Extremadura region in Spain, and given our commitment to sustainable production, we are interested in proving that solar can work at industrial scale in a self-contained way," Diamond Foundry said.Image: Martin Roscheisen (third from left), CEO of Diamond Foundry, with local officials at a ceremony in Merida, Extremadura, Spain, in June 2021. (Diamond Foundry)