Battery startup acquires new Trina Solar plant in Wilmer for $340M
WILMER, Texas — This was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original here.
A Norwegian battery company is set to acquire Trina Solar Co. Ltd's 1.35-million-square-foot manufacturing plant in Wilmer for $340 million.
Freyr Battery announced on Nov. 6 it entered into an agreement to purchase the Chinese solar giant's U.S. manufacturing assets including its solar panel facility at the Tradepoint 45 West industrial development. The Wilmer plant began production this month and will ramp up to full operation next year. The battery startup will also assume the $235 million in financing Trina Solar secured in August.
The deal is anticipated to close by the end of the year and establish Freyr as a U.S.-owned and operated technology company, according to the news release.
Once the transaction closes, Freyr plans to develop a 5GW solar cell manufacturing facility somewhere in the U.S.
Site selection for the plant is currently underway. The company aims to start construction in the second quarter of 2025 and production in the second half of 2026. The creation of a U.S.-owned and operated business is anticipated to generate up to 1,800 jobs , according to the announcement.
The battery startup has a U.S. headquarters in Newman, Georgia, where it's also building a $2.6 billion facility.
"We are pleased to announce this transformative transaction, which will immediately position the Company as one of the leading solar manufacturing companies in the U.S.," Freyr CEO Daniel Barcelo said in a statement. "We are proud to be partnered with Trina Solar, a global manufacturing and solar technology leader. Domestic manufacturing capacity for solar and batteries is essential for energy transition and job creation. The U.S. was once the global leader in solar, and it can be again."
Trina Solar announced early this year it planned to generate 1,500 jobs and invest $200 million into the Wilmer factory – its first U.S. manufacturing plant. The solar products maker was founded in 1997 in Changzhou, China, and has a U.S. headquarters in Silicon Valley.
