Oklahoma has been named by Enel North America as its preferred location for its 3-gigawatt solar panel and cell factory. This will be one of the largest factories to produce solar cells in the United States.
Oklahoma Solar Cell Factory
Italian utility Enel North America identified Oklahoma as the leading candidate for its planned 3-gigawatt solar panel and cell factory, one of the largest in the country. According to Electrek's report, the company is excited regarding the possibility to expand its offerings and presence in the state.
The facility will be able to produce solar cells in the United States, where most assembled panels domestically are built with equipment that is mostly imported from other regions. While the facility is planned to produce 3 gigawatts of modules per year, Enel says that there is a possibility to eventually double its capacity to 6 GW.
Production is expected to start in late 2024, with the facility focusing on producing bifacial heterojunction cells. This will combine aspects of conventional crystalline solar cells, including thin-film solar cells.
Enel & Oklahoma
Governor Kevin Stitt (R-OK) stated that Enel has been invested with the state for over a decade now by producing several projects in different areas in the city. However, this partnership will be different as it makes history in Oklahoma, becoming one of its largest development deals.
Oklahoma City is not new to Enel as the company already has an office in the state, including a $3 billion portfolio of wind projects. In October last year, the company announced a new office and training space in the city that will develop a clean energy workforce.
Considering Tusla
Meanwhile, Enel is still finalizing its search for potential sites in Oklahoma City. Land and workforce availability, transportation connection, and tax and incentive structures are among the top priorities of the company when it comes to choosing an area. As of the moment, Tulsa, Oklahoma is the one being considered by Enel as the site.
Tulsa Regional Chamber Senior Vice President of Economic Development Arthur Jackson stated that choosing Oklahoma is a great choice as it contains real estate, workforce, and energy resources that will meet the needs of the company.
With this, the region of Tulsa sees this as a great opportunity and welcomes the company if they were chosen, as they look forward to working with this investment with the governor and state legislature.
The collaboration between the state and the company also represents one of the biggest commitments to solar manufacturing since US President Joe Biden passed the landmark climate change law last year.
Through this project, Reuters reported that Oklahoma and Enel will be able to provide thousands of jobs to the community and will provide a million-dollar investment to the state, computing an incentive package for this partnership.
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