A solar manufacturing complex in the southern state of Georgia may serve as the test case for whether President Joe Biden’s climate law can boost the domestic supply chain for renewable energy.
If successful, it means the climate law may finally even get buy-in from GOP-led states.
South Korean company Hanwha Q Cells announced it will be investing $2.5 billion to build a plant near Cartersville, Georgia, and the plant will manufacture solar panels and their components.
It is the second plant the company will have in Georgia. The company already has a plant in Dalton, Ga., that it plans to expand.
The facilities plan to supply 30 percent of the United States solar panels by 2027. That could be a big game-changer for the U.S. solar industry. Currently, the U.S. largely relies on China for components.
Biden said the investment is a “direct result” of the climate law passed last year.
As part of the climate tax law, the Biden administration provides invectives for companies to invest in green energy. Because of this, investments in the solar sector are also expected to continue to grow.
A recent report from the American Clean Power Association said $40 billion in new clean energy investments have been made since the law was passed in August.
Hanwha Q Cells opened the Dalton manufacturing plant in 2019, its first in the United States. Two years later in 2021, it announced it would be expanding. The new latest investment and plant expects to create 2,500 local jobs and produce enough solar panels to support 8.4 gigawatts of power by 2024.
That amount of solar power could ease a supply chain crunch that has already led to a slowing of solar panel installments, which were down 17 percent in the third quarter of 2022 from the year before.
Be the first to comment