T1 Energy, formerly FREYR, has finalized its site selection for a new solar cell manufacturing facility in Milam County, Texas, U.S.

The company secured a lease and purchase option for 100 acres in the Advanced Manufacturing and Logistix Campus at Sandow Lakes.

The new facility, G2 Austin, is expected to have a solar cell manufacturing capacity of 5 GW. The total capital investment in the project is projected to reach up to $850 million.

G2 Austin is T1’s third major investment in Texas. With the addition of G2 Austin to G1 Dallas and T1’s new global corporate headquarters in Austin, the three facilities in Texas represent a combined investment of more than $1.1 billion.

The company has also announced that the production ramp-up at its G1 Dallas solar modules manufacturing facility is ahead of schedule. In January and February 2025, the facility’s total module manufacturing exceeded 220 MW, surpassing the company’s initial plan by 48%.

The G1 Dallas facility has four fully operational utility-scale production lines and currently produces a mix of mono PERC and TOPCon modules.

The company is on track to meet its 2025 production target of 3.4 GW.

Daniel Barcelo, Chairman and CEO of T1 Energy, said the company is focusing on the next phases of its plan to become an American, vertically integrated solar plus battery storage leader. “Our teams are making impressive progress with the U.S. solar module production ramp at G1 Dallas. We are moving forward swiftly with project development of our planned G2 Austin U.S. solar cell facility, and we are executing our global corporate transformation to build a cash flow powerhouse.”

On November 6, 2024, T1 Energy announced that it had agreed to acquire the U.S. manufacturing assets of Trina Solar for $621 million. The transaction included the acquisition of a 5 GW, 1.35 million square foot solar module manufacturing facility in Wilmer, TX, which T1 subsequently named G1 Dallas.

Recently, South Korea-headquartered green energy and chemical company OCI Holdings announced plans to expand its U.S. solar value chain by building a solar cell manufacturing plant through its U.S. solar subsidiary, Mission Solar Energy.

According to a recent Solar Energy Industries Association report, the U.S. solar module manufacturing capacity surpassed 50 GW. It said companies had announced plans to produce 56 GW of solar cells. The target focused on all levels of the solar supply chain, including modules, cells, ingots and wafers, polysilicon, trackers, and inverters.