Photo: Trina Solar
Trina Solar is selling its Texas solar panel factory as the US scrutinizes Chinese companies investing in the Tax Cuts Act tax break.
FREYR Battery acquires Trina Solar's 5 gigawatt (GW), 1.35 million square meter solar panel plant in Wilmer, Texas, which just came online on November 1.
FREYR, which was founded in Norway and moved its headquarters to Georgia, will pay $340 million for the Trina factory. Trina will retain a minority ownership stake in Freyr, reports said Bloomberg. The factory is scheduled to reach full production by 2025, with firm contracts already locked in for 30% of its limited production to US customers.
The two companies announced the acquisition on November 6, the same day Kamala Harris conceded the US election to Donald Trump. On July 31, senators introduced S.4873, a bipartisan bill aimed at stopping Chinese companies from receiving US tax credits intended to boost American solar production. Chinese companies are expected to face tougher trade restrictions under the Trump administration.
As Electrek reported in August 2023, Changzhou-headquartered Trina Solar was one of five solar panel manufacturers in China to receive a US Department of Commerce (DOC) tariff because the DOC determined that the companies were avoiding US tariffs on goods made in China processing parts of Southeast Asian countries before exporting their solar products to the US.
Daniel Barcelo, newly appointed CEO of FREYR, said, “We are proud to partner with Trina Solar, a global leader in solar manufacturing and technology. Homegrown solar and battery power is essential to the electricity transition and job creation.” Barcelo said in an interview, according to Bloombergthat he feels confident that the newly acquired factory will qualify for the IRA manufacturing tax credit.
As Politics reported earlier this week about the 45X Inflation Act tax credit:
A 45X tax credit pays factory owners based on each unit produced. A solar module, for example, can get 7 cents a watt, or $70,000 per megawatt, although the payment will be smaller starting in 2029.
The 5,000-megawatt Trina plant in Texas stands to generate $1.775 billion from 2025 to 2032 if operating at a 78% utilization rate, according to Antoine Vagneur-Jones, head of commercial and supply chain at BloombergNEF. At a 60% utilization rate, Trina will earn more than $1 billion, he said.
FREYR says its next step is to build a 5 GW solar cell factory in the US, and site selection is already underway. The company plans to break ground in the second half of 2025, aiming for first production in the second half of 2026. The new US owned and operated solar cell industry will help solve a critical bottleneck for developers, create up to 1,800 direct jobs, and meet local content requirements for US solar projects.
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