Attendees were given a tour of the solar cell manufacturing facility.
ES Foundry marked a significant milestone in the U.S. solar manufacturing industry on Jan. 31 with the grand opening of its solar cell manufacturing facility in Greenwood, South Carolina. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, which attracted industry leaders, government officials, and community members, celebrated the company’s investment in renewable energy and local economic development.

Reviving American Solar Manufacturing
During the event, ES Foundry’s Founder and CEO, Alex Zhu, emphasized the significance of this grand opening as a pivotal moment in the revival of U.S. solar manufacturing. Zhu highlighted the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in fostering policy support for clean energy initiatives, allowing ES Foundry to establish the first solar cell manufacturing plant in the country in 14 years. He also shared ambitious plans for the facility, stating that it will be the largest of its kind in the U.S. within months, with production capacity expected to reach 1 GW in 2025 and scale up to 3 GW soon.
“The future begins now.” – Alex Zhu, Founder and CEO, ES Foundry
Economic Growth and Job Creation
The new ES Foundry facility is located in the former Fujifilm manufacturing building. During the event, Zhu paid tribute to Fujifilm and announced that the company has already hired 125 employees, including former workers from Fujifilm and Ascend Performance Materials, both of which recently closed facilities in the area. Zhu also announced plans to expand the workforce to over 500 employees by Q3 2025.
Greenwood Mayor Brandon Smith applauded the investment, stating that the new facility strengthens Greenwood’s position as a hub for advanced manufacturing.
“Economic development flows to the city,” Smith said.
Similarly, State House Representative John McCravy welcomed ES Foundry and expressed pride in the local workforce and their role in bringing solar cell manufacturing back to America.
“You’ve come to a place where business is welcome,” McCravy said.
Greenwood County Council Vice Chairman Dayne Pruitt described the facility’s opening as a moment of “opportunities, progress, and long-term growth.” He emphasized its importance as one of the first new companies to establish itself on the former Fujifilm campus and a catalyst for innovation and sustainability in the region.

A Look Ahead
ES Foundry was created to bring solar cell manufacturing back to the U.S. The plant will manufacture silicon raw wafers into high-efficiency solar cells using a cutting-edge diffusion process, ensuring that the products meet the criteria for being genuinely American-made. By creating genuinely American-made solar cells, ES Foundry empowers developers and project managers to capitalize on Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) benefits for domestic products.
With Phase 2 expansion on the horizon, ES Foundry is set to redefine American solar manufacturing and strengthen domestic supply chains. As it continues its rapid growth, ES Foundry stands as an example of how American manufacturing can compete globally. With its roots firmly planted in Greenwood, this facility is not just a factory—it’s a testament to the power of clean energy, economic renewal, and a vision for a brighter, more sustainable future.
Check out Energy for All Y’all for more clean energy success stories in the Southeast!
The post Breathing New Life Into American Solar Manufacturing: ES Foundry Opens New SC Solar Cell Facility appeared first on SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
Breathing New Life Into American Solar Manufacturing: ES Foundry Opens New SC Solar Cell Facility
Renewable Energy
Court Keeps GE on Vineyard Wind, France Plans Huge Wind Farm
Weather Guard Lightning Tech

Court Keeps GE on Vineyard Wind, France Plans Huge Wind Farm
Allen covers GE Vernova ordered to stay on Vineyard Wind, TotalEnergies filing for France’s largest renewable project, Spain’s repowering grants, and Dajin’s Hong Kong stock debut.
Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!
Good Monday.
Wind energy made news this week from Boston courtrooms…
to the coast of Normandy …
to the stock exchange floors of Hong Kong.
Let us start in Massachusetts.
A Boston judge has once again told GE VERNOVA it cannot walk away from VINEYARD WIND.
To understand why GE VERNOVA wants out…
you have to look at the money.
VINEYARD WIND owes GE VERNOVA three hundred and sixty million dollars
on a one-point-two-billion-dollar turbine supply contract.
VINEYARD WIND is withholding that payment.
GE VERNOVA says it has the contractual right to walk when it is not paid.
In February, they sent VINEYARD WIND a termination notice.
VINEYARD WIND sued.
In April, Judge PETER KRUPP issued an injunction ordering GE to stay.
GE VERNOVA came back and asked the judge to reconsider.
Vernova pointed to statements from state officials and VINEYARD WIND’s own parent company describing the eight-hundred-and-six-megawatt project as essentially complete.
If the project is done, GE argued, there is no harm in letting us leave.
Judge KRUPP did not buy it.
Here is why this matters so much to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
VINEYARD WIND is the largest offshore wind project in New England.
It is owned jointly by Spain’s IBERDROLA
and Denmark’s COPENHAGEN INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS.
It began initial operations just this past February…
after the developer won a separate court fight to keep federal construction permits intact.
Sixty-two turbines.
A four-point-five-billion-dollar investment.
The anchor project for offshore wind in the entire region.
The judge found that GE VERNOVA’s proprietary expertise
is still needed to bring those turbines to full operational capacity.
Pull GE’s more than two hundred employees and subcontractors off the job…
and the project’s financing structure could collapse.
Massachusetts Governor MAURA HEALEY has weighed in publicly.
The state has too much riding on this project to let it unravel in court.
GE VERNOVA still has its appeal of the April injunction pending.
But for now… the turbines keep turning.
Now let us cross the Atlantic.
Off the coast of Normandy, France…
TOTALENERGIES has filed for government authorization
of a massive offshore wind farm called CENTRE MANCHE ENERGIES.
This will be France’s largest renewable energy project… ever.
One-point-five gigawatts of offshore wind.
Located more than forty kilometers off the Normandy coast.
Four-point-five billion euros in investment.
Up to twenty-five hundred construction jobs over three years.
Once running, the wind farm will generate
roughly six terawatt-hours of clean electricity per year…
enough to power more than one million French homes.
TOTALENERGIES was awarded this project by the French government
eight months ago.
Filing for authorization is the next milestone on the path to construction.
Meanwhile… across the Pyrenees in Spain…
The Spanish government has awarded grants for eighty wind repowering projects
totaling two-point-four gigawatts of capacity.
With Nearly four hundred and sixty million euros in subsidies.
The goal: replace older turbines with more efficient technology by twenty-thirty.
The names on the award list read like a who’s who of European wind energy.
IBERDROLA… STATKRAFT… EDP…
ENEL GREEN POWER… NATURGY…
RWE … and others.
IBERDROLA alone picked up four hundred megawatts of new capacity.
And this repowering wave is not just replacing old machines.
Some projects are swapping out turbines that were once the industry standard…
one-point-five and two-megawatt machines…
for the far more powerful equipment available today.
The industry is not just building forward.
It is rebuilding smarter.
And finally… a story from the other side of the world.
A Chinese manufacturer of offshore wind foundations and towers
called DAJIN HEAVY INDUSTRY
made its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this past Friday.
The share sale raised up to eight hundred and forty-seven million dollars.
DAJIN claims a notable distinction:
it says it ranked as Europe’s largest offshore wind foundation supplier
by monopile sales value in the first half of twenty twenty-five.
The company plans to use more than half the proceeds
to expand its deep-sea wind power services…
and one-fifth to build an assembly facility in Europe.
As we know wind energy is continues to push forward.
On every front.
And that is the state of the wind industry for the eighth of June, twenty twenty-six.
Join us for the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.
Court Keeps GE on Vineyard Wind, France Plans Huge Wind Farm
Renewable Energy
Is There a Line that Trump Cannot Cross? — “Your Elections Are Rigged!!”
When Trump comes after a TV journalist with psychotic aggression like this, the world wants to know how far his criminal insanity can go without someone putting a stop to it.
It may be true that his approval ratings have ceased to matter to him personally, but don’t they matter to Republicans in congress? Don’t their constituents, even the complete idiots, have some sort of limit?
Is There a Line that Trump Cannot Cross? — “Your Elections Are Rigged!!”
Renewable Energy
Trump on Domestic Issues
Oh. Well, if a professional liar says that something about Trump is “an objective fact,” I guess it must be true.
lol
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