US power developer Invenergy is partnering with Chinese solar photovoltaics (PV) company LONGi Green Energy Technology to build a solar panel assembly factory in the US state of Ohio.
The new factory is being developed by Illuminate United States, a joint venture between the two companies, and is expected to cost $600m to develop. It will eventually be the largest crystalline silicon solar panel manufacturing factory in the US.
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The five-gigawatt PV factory will be the first investment by LONGi in the US.
The plant, located in Pataskala, around 32km east of Columbus, will span an area of more than 100,000m2 and is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2023. The project will create an estimated 850 jobs.
Art Fletcher, executive vice-president for global sourcing at Invenergy, commented on the project announcement: “Invenergy takes pride in the role Illuminate United States will certainly play in bringing the highest quality, domestically generated solar products to market, enhancing our nation’s manufacturing abilities with a long-lasting investment that will create at the very least 850 good-paying jobs for Ohioans.”
Invenergy will be the anchor client of the Illuminate United States joint venture. The company has developed 190 projects worldwide, totalling more than 30,100MW in generating capacity.
