GT Equipment Signs Over $33 Million Contract With Chinese Co.; LDK Solar Hi-Tech Co., Ltd. To Buy 75 MW Solar Wafer Fabrication Line.

MERRIMACK, N.H. -- GT Equipment Technologies, Inc., a worldwide company that designs, manufactures, assembles, and installs turnkey manufacturing lines for all three stages of the photovoltaic manufacturing chain, has entered into over a $33 million agreement with LDK Solar Hi-Tech Co., Ltd. of Jiangxi, China to create a nearly 75 megawatt wafer fabrication turnkey line for solar energy applications. The line is being produced by GT Equipment Technologies' solar division - GT Solar Technologies.

By October of 2005, LDK Solar will double its solar wafer capacity with GT Equipment and expects to reach 200 megawatts by the end of 2006 to become one of the major suppliers worldwide.

GT Equipment Technologies' Chairman and CEO, Kedar Gupta, said: "This is the largest contract in GT Equipment's 11-year history. It will provide LDK Solar with the ability to manufacture and sell solar wafers in the major market of China where the demand for energy resources is growing at a fast clip. We are honored the President of LDK Solar, Mr. Light DK Peng, traveled to Merrimack, NH for this announcement."

"We are enthusiastic about our relationship with GT Equipment Technologies, and about the opportunity we have to manufacture solar wafers for distribution in China and worldwide," said Light DK Peng. "Our total investment to date in this solar energy project is $72.5 million, including the amount announced today. GT Solar Technologies has an excellent reputation in the solar energy world for producing advanced and reliable equipment for the production of solar wafers."

LDK Solar Hi-Tech Co., Ltd. located in Xinyu City, Jiangxi, China is a part of Liouxin Group, which has 12,000 employees, and is a major company in Asia for the manufacture of personal protective equipment (PPE), power tools and elevators. With this agreement, the company is diversifying into solar energy products. For more information, go to www.liouxingroup.com. Note: www.ldksolar.com is under construction. To contact LDK Solar in the interim, email Fred Kocher (above) for information.

GT Equipment Technologies, Inc. is a privately held company and an industry leader in the design and manufacture of semi-custom and specialty equipment for the solar and materials processing industries, particularly for photovoltaic and semi-conductor applications. For more information, go to www.gtequipment.com.

GT Equipment Technologies was recently named by the Export-Import Bank of the United States as "Environmental Exporter of the Year" in the United States.