Enel North America, through its affiliate 3Sun USA, LLC, announced on May 22 that it plans to build a solar cell and panel manufacturing facility in Inola, Oklahoma, after the state legislature agreed to a $180 million incentive package.
Enel North America, a part of Italian energy company Enel Group, will receive up to $36 million a year for the next five years as it builds the manufacturing plant. It will employ about 1,000 people.
The company will invest $1 billion in the project, and construction of the factory is to begin in the fall of 2023, with the first panels will be available to the market by the end of 2024. The 2 million-square-foot solar photovoltaic cell and panel manufacturing facility will have an annual production capacity of 3 gigawatts, or about 3.1 million solar panels. Construction on the facility is expected to begin in the fall in Inola, Oklahoma, which is located about 27 miles east of Tulsa.
“Our selection of Oklahoma is a testament to the strength of the Tulsa Port of Inola site, the state’s commitment to workforce development, and an attractive investment climate,” said Giovanni Bertolino, head of Enel North America’s affiliate 3Sun USA.
The decision was announced after the legislature and Gov. Kevin Stitt agreed to provide the company with $180 million in tax rebates if the company reaches certain benchmarks over the next several years. In order to qualify for the entire $180 million, the company will have to spend at least $1.8 billion in qualifying capital expenditures and create 1,400 permanent new jobs.
Oklahoma also agreed to spend more than $38 million on water and wastewater system upgrades to the inland waterways in the region, including at the Port of Inola.
Construction of the factory is expected to create more than 1,800 construction jobs and around 1,000 new, permanent jobs by 2025. The project includes the potential for a second phase that would increase production to 6 gigawatts of annual production, creating an additional 900 jobs.
The planned factory will be among the first in the United States to produce solar cells, the fundamental building block of PV modules, and will incorporate a high-performance bifacial heterojunction technology (HJT).
European companies have been eyeing the United States to invest in green energy, weighing up the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act’s $375 billion in benefits for renewable industries.
President Joe Biden said in a statement the announcement is evidence that his Investment in America agenda, which includes the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, is helping to boost domestic manufacturing.
“Because of my Inflation Reduction Act, private capital is being invested in Oklahoma and all across the country, as communities step up to help build our clean energy economy,” Biden said.
Stitt called the expansion “a huge win for Oklahoma.”
Tribal leaders in Oklahoma, including Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin and Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David Hill, also praised the project.
Enel first appeared in Oklahoma when it built the Rocky Ridge wind farm in 2012. For over a decade, it has invested $3 billion to expand its footprint in the state, which now includes 13 wind farms that generate more than 2 gigawatts of annual production, along with a regional office in Oklahoma City to support its growing workforce.
Oklahoma lawmakers are also considering a separate package of incentives to lure a second Panasonic manufacturing facility to Oklahoma after the state last year lost out in a bidding war with Kansas, which the Japan-based company ultimately selected as the location for a multibillion-dollar mega-factory to produce electric vehicle batteries for Tesla and other carmakers.
