Italian energy giant Enel is planning to build a mega solar power plant in the United States. Enel North America (Enel Group), through 3Sun USA, intends to build one of the largest high-performance bifacial photovoltaic cells and modules production plants in the United States, initially expected to produce at least 3 GW and scale up to 6 GW per year .
Wsj: cost of 1 billion dollars
The proposed plant will be among the first in the United States to produce photovoltaic modules and cells, the key elements that make up solar panels, according to a statement released by Enel North America. The cost of the plant, according to the Wall Street Journal, could approach or exceed one billion dollars.
Up to 1,500 new jobs expected
The facility is expected to create up to 1,500 new clean energy jobs, while also supporting the creation of a national PV supply chain to accelerate the growth of solar-generated energy in the United States and increase manufacturing capacity of solar cells and panels of the country.
First panel available on the market by the end of 2024
Construction of the factory is expected to begin in the first half of 2023, and the first panel is expected to be manufactured and commercially available by the end of 2024. The US factory will be Enel’s second photovoltaic panel production facility globally. The company previously announced the expansion of its 3Sun Gigafactory in Catania, Sicily, increasing its production capacity from 200MW to 3G.
Possible locations include the Great Lakes area and Texas
“Economies of scale and learning curves are extremely important in this sector,” said Giovanni Bertolino, US head of Enel’s cell and panel production unit, underlining that the Italian giant “needs large production volumes if it wants to compete with the Chinese manufacturers who now dominate the sector in terms of price and quality». Among the locations that Enel is evaluating for the construction of the new mega plant are the Great Lakes area and Texas.