Nextpower, formerly known as a Nextracker, the publicly traded U.S. solar tracker, balance-of-systems and other power products manufacturer and integrator, announced it has made significant expansions to its footprint in the Southeast.
The company announced an expanded regional hub with a new remote monitoring center in Nashville, Tennessee. The center which connects Nashville-based engineers to Nextpower solar tracker projects around the world.
Nextpower also expanded its steel fabrication capacity in the area, doubling its lines in Memphis operated by contract manufacturer partner MSS Steel Tubes USA. The site creates structural steel components for its utility-scale solar tracker systems.
The existing fabrication line currently supports 120 U.S. jobs, with 150 expected as the new line ramps up.
“This expansion reflects our long-term commitment to American manufacturing and to powering the clean energy transition with steel that’s locally made,” said António Pedro Antunes, chief executive officer of Metalogalva Group, parent company of MSS.
The expansion occurs as Nextpower’s major customers continue to grow and deploy utility-scale solar projects across the U.S. and globally. Utility-scale developer Silicon Ranch, for example, installed 4 GW of solar in its first 15 years of operation, and it expects to double that figure in the next three years.
“Nextpower’s expansion in Tennessee helps us do so while enabling us to support additional investments in domestic manufacturing; this is what ‘unleashing American energy’ looks like,” said Reagan Farr, co-founder and chief executive officer, Silicon Ranch.
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said the Southeast added 5 GW of solar in 2024 alone, bringing the cumulative total to nearly 28 GW. Nextpower’s fabrication capacity is expected to support utility-scale solar power plants across Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Virginia, many of which are developed, owned, and operated by Tennessee-based Silicon Ranch Corporation.
“This new U.S. manufacturing line with our partner MSS not only doubles our Memphis factory production capacity for solar trackers, but it also helps our customers scale projects faster, brings new American jobs, and strengthens our supply chain,” said Dan Shugar, chief executive officer, Nextpower.
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