Wedoany.com Report-Aug. 12, Pivotal Manufacturing has acquired a 140-acre site where a nuclear plant was abandoned with 40% of its construction completed and over $2.6 billion in debt. The site will be used for a new polysilicon manufacturing facility and other energy projects, following a long-term ground lease agreement with Highland Materials. This agreement aims to develop an advanced manufacturing campus for polysilicon production and other energy technologies.

Highland Materials, a US-based manufacturer of purified polysilicon and alloys, plans to build a facility with an initial annual capacity of 16,000 metric tons (MT) of solar-grade polysilicon. The Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that, at full capacity in four years, the facility will produce 20,000 MT per year, equivalent to 11 gigawatts (GW) of solar cells. The site’s infrastructure, including a high-voltage interconnect and flexible zoning, comes from the partially completed nuclear project, which was abandoned.

In April 2024, Highland secured $255.6 million in Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit (48C) tax credits to support the construction of the plant. The 48C credits, part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), offer tax credits for projects meeting certain conditions, such as prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. The tax credits aim to foster clean energy development, with $4 billion allocated for projects in energy communities.

Highland chose the Phipps Bend site for its strong power infrastructure and its strategic location within the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) region, which supports large-scale, high-precision manufacturing. The project will create over 400 high-paying full-time manufacturing jobs. Pivotal Manufacturing, working with local, regional, and federal stakeholders such as Hawkins County and the TVA, will help develop infrastructure, incentives, and economic support for the campus.

The facility will form part of the Phipps Bend Advanced Manufacturing & Technology Campus, designed to support operators needing substantial power infrastructure. The campus has direct access to a regional transmission interconnect owned by TVA, a federally owned utility corporation. Pivotal Partners emphasized the site’s legacy infrastructure, including power utilities, zoning flexibility, and a favorable permitting environment, which provides a strong foundation for advanced manufacturing.

Highland’s manufacturing process is designed to be energy-efficient, requiring a smaller footprint and lower power consumption compared to traditional methods. The plant will use an aluminum-silicon alloy system, which operates at a lower melting temperature and consumes less energy.

In 2017, the site was first used for renewable energy when United Renewable Energy installed a 1 MW solar project near the remains of the nuclear plant. This initiative is part of Pivotal’s strategy to support the reshoring of US manufacturing in critical technologies, investing in large-scale industrial properties with the necessary infrastructure for power-intensive manufacturing.