The U.S. DoE Loan Programs Office (LPO) has announced the closing of a $1.45 billion loan guarantee to Hanwha Qcells. With the goal of restoring critical parts of the U.S. solar supply chain, the loan guarantee will support Qcell’s solar manufacturing facility, which will produce blocks, wafers, cells and finished solar panels.
Qcell’s Georgia facility will reportedly be the largest ingot and wafer facility built in the United States. It will also be the first fully integrated, silicon-based solar energy manufacturing facility built in the country in more than a decade.
Initially the DoE announced a conditional commitment to support the project in August, requiring Qcells to meet certain technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions before the loan could be completed.
The loan guarantee is offered through LPOs Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Programwhich includes financing opportunities for innovative energy and supply chain projects and projects that reinvest in existing energy infrastructure.
The project will produce components that are expected to benefit from the 45x Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit. Additionally, the factory-produced solar panels will help developers qualify for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) domestic content 10% tax credit bonus.
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