Georgia will soon be home to a complete solar-manufacturing supply chain as a South Korean company makes a $2.5 billion investment into the state.
Key Details
- New tax incentives introduced last year have encouraged South Korea’s Hanwha Group to make a $2.5 billion investment into solar production in Georgia.
- The solar manufacturing facilities mark the most significant solar investment taking advantage of the new U.S. incentives, the Wall Street Journal reports.
- On Wednesday, the company announced plans to build new facilities in Atlanta. When completed, the factories will be capable of producing 3.3 gigawatts of solar panels yearly.
- Hanwha’s new facilities will allow almost all main solar panel components to be manufactured on-site.
- Currently, components like solar cells, ingots, and wafers are not manufactured in the U.S.
- Solar manufacturing in the U.S. is expected to quadruple the levels from two years ago.
Why it’s news
The new facilities in Atlanta will be able to produce 18% of the estimated U.S. solar panel demand from 2022. Hanwha’s investment will also improve its current facility in Georgia, allowing it to produce additional solar panels.
A series of tax incentives introduced in the U.S. last year has led to a growing number of companies investing in clean energy and growing investment in electric vehicle battery manufacturing.
Due to tax credits, investment in clean energy manufacturing has become more profitable. The proposed Atlanta plant could provide Hanwha with $561 million in yearly tax credits, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Hanwha isn’t just looking to Georgia—the company already has its eyes set on other U.S. locations like Texas. Company representatives haven’t announced how many facilities they are considering investing in.
“This is just the beginning,” Hanwha’s marketing lead Scott Moskowitz says, “The U.S. is one of the biggest markets for solar power in the world.”
Since the tax incentives were announced, various companies have made nearly $40 billion combined investments in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reports. These investments have ranged from battery manufacturing to wind and solar equipment production.