WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st August, 2022) The US solar panels manufacturer First Solar said in a release on Tuesday that it is planning to build a new $1 billion manufacturing facility in the southeast of the United States and will spend $185 million to upgrade its Ohio facility as a result of incentives offered by the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA).
"As part of its push to scale US production of solar modules, the company intends to build its fourth, fully vertically integrated domestic factory, with an annual capacity of 3.5 GWDC, in the US southeast," the release said. "First Solar, the only US-headquartered company among the world's ten largest solar manufacturers, expects to invest up to $1 billion in the new factory, which, contingent upon permitting and pending approval of various Federal, state, regional, and local incentives, is expected to commence operations in 2025.
First Solar CEO Mark Widmar said the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was the key driver of the company's decision to build another factory in the United States rather than looking elsewhere. Widmar also said a regime has been created with long-term view and understanding of the industry and policies aligned to that industry.
"With that type of alignment, you can create partnerships and opportunities to grow together collectively and more of a win-win type of structure than maybe we had before the implementation of the IRA," he said in the release.
The new factory is expected to produce 3.5 gigawatts of solar modules each year by 2025, with the Ohio plant looking to produce more than 7 gigawatts by 2025, the release said.
First Solar will expand the capacity of its two operating facilities in Perrysburg and Lake Township, Ohio, the release said, adding that it will also develop its third Ohio factory by the first half of 2023. The total investment in these plants will be about $3 billion, according to the release.
