Hanwha to build largest US solar energy hub for $2.5 bn

South Korea’s Hanwha Solutions Corp. said on Wednesday that it will invest 3.2 trillion won ($2.5 billion) to build the largest solar energy production hub in the US by next year.

The investment will mark the largest-ever sum for a company to pour into the US solar energy sector.

Once the facilities in the US state of Georgia are completed, it will become the first company offering production lines for the four major phases of the solar value chain in North America, Hanwha said.

To do so, it will boost the capacity of its existing solar module factory in Dalton from 1.7 gigawatts (GW) of electricity to 5.1 GW by 2024.

Simultaneously, Hanwha will build a production complex in Cartersville near the city for $3 billion.

The new complex will cast ingots and manufacture wafers, cells and modules, the four phases of the solar value chain. They use polysilicon as a raw material. It is expected to begin commercial production around the end of next year.

In aggregate, Hanwha will have the capacity to generate 8.4 GW electricity from sunlight by 2024.

That will position it as the largest solar panel manufacturer in North America among polysilicon-based solar module producers.

The 8.4 GW of electricity is enough to power 1.3 million households in the US for a year.

The latest investment is an aim to better cope with the US Inflation Reduction Act that includes tax credit provisions for clean energy production, said Hanwha Q Cells CEO Lee Koo Yung in a news conference.

Hanwha Q Cells is a US subsidiary in charge of the so-called solar energy hub for the parent company.

Once the US facilities are up and running, Hanwha is likely to substantially increase its solar energy revenue and profits, he said. 

(The number in the headline and the lead was corrected to the conversion value of $2.5 billion of 3.2 trillion won)

Write to Seo-Woo Jang at suwu@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article