Q Cells said the investment would make it the only company in the United States that would build a fully integrated, silicon-based solar supply chain from raw materials to finished modules. | Q CELLS North America/YouTube / Q Cells North America
A solar manufacturing complex in Georgia could serve as a test case for whether President Joe Biden’s climate bill can boost the domestic renewable energy supply chain — and even garner support from GOP-led states.
South Korean company Hanwha Q Cells announced Tuesday that it is investing $2.5 billion to build a plant near Cartersville, Georgia, that will make solar panels and their components, writes Scott Waldman, reporter for POLITICO E&E News. The company already has a plant in Dalton, Georgia that it plans to expand.
If all goes well, the plants will supply 30 percent of the country’s solar panels by 2027. That could be a game changer for the U.S. solar industry, which largely relies on China for components.
Biden is touting the investment as a “direct result” of last year’s climate bill, while White House adviser John Podesta called it Biden’s “vision brought to life.”
“A major global corporation has chosen America as the place to invest and help build our clean energy future, while creating thousands of high-paying, middle-class jobs in the process,” Podesta said.
The company opened the Dalton manufacturing facility in 2019, its first in the United States, and had previously announced an expansion of the site for 2021. Hanwha Q Cells expects its new investment to create 2,500 jobs and produce enough solar panels to support 8.4 gigawatts of power by 2024.
That could ease a supply chain crisis that has already caused solar panel rates to slow. POLITICO reporter Kelsey Tamborrino writes that rates in the third quarter of 2022 were down 17 percent year-on-year.
As the Biden administration distributes the Climate Law tax credits, investment in the solar sector is also expected to continue growing. Last month, a report by the American Clean Power Association recorded $40 billion in new clean energy investments since the law passed in August.
What could go wrong? Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday praised Hanwha Q Cells’ investment, but his endorsement doesn’t necessarily mean the swing state is running smoothly.
Just ask electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive, which plans to invest $5 billion to build a plant in Georgia that would produce up to 400,000 trucks a year. The factory, hailed by Kemp as an economic boon, has nonetheless become a contentious issue in the state.
It’s Wednesday – thank you for turning on POLITICO’s Power Switch. I’m your host, Lamar Johnson. Arianna will be back soon! Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to [email protected]
Today on the POLITICO Energy Podcast: Catherine Morehouse discusses the Biden administration’s plans to eliminate emissions from the transportation sector by 2050.
Alexander Hoehn-Saric, Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. | CPSC
Cooling down on a ban
Alexander Hoehn-Saric, chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, tried to calm Hill Republican uproar over the idea that the commission was considering banning new gas stoves, writes Ariel Wittenburg.
Saric stressed he was not planning a ban after another commissioner suggested gas stove regulations were on the table in response to a study linking gas stove use to 13 per cent of childhood asthma cases.
That was enough to anger Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) and Republicans on the Hill, write Ariel and Nico Portuondo.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D). | AP Photo/Hans Pennink
New York is moving towards all-electric buildings
Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has urged state lawmakers to ban fossil fuel heating in buildings, writes David Iaconangelo.
Hochul’s proposal called for existing residential and commercial buildings to phase out fossil fuel heating by 2030 and 2035, respectively. New residential and commercial buildings would have to be fully electric by 2025 and 2030 respectively.
Wait out the economic storm
Venture capitalist Alexandra Harbor believes the climate technology sector can withstand the economic pressures the broader technology sector is currently facing, writes Debra Kahn.
Harbour, a director at Prelude Ventures, said the sector has yet to see layoffs in traditional technology. But the real test, she said, will come later in 2023 and 2024.
A climate fund without a fund
An international climate fund emerged from a surprising agreement at last year’s UN climate summit, but two months later it has still not received any financial commitments, writes Sara Schonhardt.
The fund was set up to help poorer countries deal with the damage of climate change, but it has not received any pledges for country funding and was not included in the omnibus bill passed late last month.
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Another round of sanctions: The US and its allies are preparing another round of sanctions against the Russian oil industry.
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Physical and computerized attacks on equipment that supplies power are at their highest since at least 2012, including 101 reported this year through the end of August, according to federal records reviewed by POLITICO. | Gerry Broome/AP photo
The country’s largest grid operator expects to impose fines of up to $2 billion on power plants that failed to deliver power during last month’s winter storm Elliot. The shortage led to failures.
Texas lawmakers are considering overhauling electric power legislation in a way that would give natural gas utilities a boost after a deadly winter power outage two years ago.
Lawmakers are preparing to renew the fight to pass legislation mandating more labor for offshore energy projects. Eventually, after receiving the committee’s support, the legislation was left out of the NDAA.
That’s it for today folks! Thank you for reading.
