Growing Solar Demand in Southwest U.S. Prompts Second Factory Built in Less Than a Year
PVTIME – Nextracker (Nasdaq: NXT), a global market leader in solar tracker and software solutions, and Unimacts (UNX), a leading provider of industrial manufacturing and supply chain solutions, today jointly announced a new factory in the Las Vegas area.
This is the second Nextracker-dedicated manufacturing line that Unimacts has opened in the last year. The new, 160,000-square-foot facility in Sloan, Nevada, produces steel torque tubes used to hold and rotate solar panels in solar power plants. The two factories will support more than 2 GW of new solar power each year, equivalent to the energy used by 400,000 U.S. homes.
With the Sloan factory, Nextracker continues its drive to reshore manufacturing to meet growing solar and renewable energy demand. The company has opened or expanded over 20 U.S. manufacturing facilities since 2021, including new or expanded dedicated production lines in Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee and Nevada.
“In partnership with Nextracker and Unimacts, Copia Power is building a renewably-powered future. The transition to clean energy in America can be built with American-made products and constructed with local tradespersons, and that’s the type of economic growth we are seeing here today,” said Ryan Galeria, Copia Power, chief development officer. “Copia is proud to supply reliable, clean and affordable renewable power to millions of Americans in the coming years.”
“American manufacturing has quickly become the heartbeat of the clean energy revolution,” said Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of Nextracker. “There is a trifecta of perfect conditions for this manufacturing renaissance: a terrific workforce, a great localized clean steel industry, and strong demand for renewable energy. Over the last three years, Nextracker has operationalized over 20 factories, catalyzing thousands of jobs. This is what growth and scaling look like.”
“Unimacts is proud and passionate about the part we play in providing key components and supply chain management, which is enabling the expansion of solar energy in America,” said Alan Hayes, CEO of Unimacts. “The federal incentives allow us to confidently invest in U.S. manufacturing, provide manufacturing jobs in Nevada and growth in the local economy. Having set up our first site for solar component production in Las Vegas just over 15 months ago, it’s a pleasure to be once again partnering with the Nextracker team, expanding our footprint and increasing our manufacturing capacity in this new location.”
“Today’s announcement is a great example of clean power driving an American manufacturing renaissance in Nevada and across the United States. Creating and expanding supply chains here at home strengthens America’s energy security, creates good-paying jobs and boosts the economy. These new manufacturing facilities also exemplify the key role of American technology in creating a clean, reliable, and affordable grid,” said Jason Grumet, CEO of American Clean Power.
ACP estimates that the IRA will help create 550,000 new clean energy jobs – more than doubling the current clean energy workforce. As a result, the clean power industry will support a direct workforce of nearly one million Americans by 2030.
Nextracker and Unimacts held a dedication event to announce the new line at the Sloan Las Vegas facility today. Attendees included Dwayne McClinton, Director of Energy Office at Nevada Governor’s Office; Whitney Muse, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation (OCEII), The White House; Ryan Galeria, Chief Development Officer at Copia Power; Jason Grumet, CEO of American Clean Power; Richard McMahon, Senior Vice President of Energy Supply & Finance and Chief ESG Officer at Edison Electric Institute; Asheesh Bhalla, General Counsel & Chief Risk Officer, Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF); Alan Hayes, CEO at Unimacts; and Dan Shugar, Founder and CEO at Nextracker.
The new factory brings the company’s annual domestic solar tracker capacity to over 30 GW. The Southwest region has incredible solar resources, with Texas, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico all ranking in the top 13 states for projected solar growth.
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