Norwegian silicon wafer manufacturer NorSun announced it will build a new 5-GW silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company will invest $620 million into the site on Tulsa International Airport property. The factory should support 320 direct jobs.

“Our business plan has an ambitious timeline, so we knew we needed a partner who can work fast and efficiently to meet the critical need for American-made energy,” said NorSun CEO Erik Løkke-Øwre. “Oklahoma impressed us even before our selection journey – its robust clean energy, manufacturing ecosystem and workforce development programs were already on our radar, and its competitive business offerings and site acceleration options solidified our decision.”

NorSun has identified a greenfield shovel-ready site of approximately 60 acres. Construction is expected to begin in late 2024, subject to approvals, necessary permits and final incentive agreements.

Ingot and wafer production is anticipated to come online in 2026, making the Oklahoma facility among the first in the United States to produce the critical product in the solar panel supply chain. The Tulsa site could possibly expand production to 10 GW, if desired.

The only other ingot and wafer manufacturing site in the United States that has made any real progress is Qcells’ sweeping facility nearing construction completion in Cartersville, Georgia. The Qcells site is expected to have 3.3 GW of manufacturing capacity, all to be used in-house for Qcells solar panels.

NorSun has already established one buyer of its domestic wafers — Silfab said it would take the wafers for use in its under-construction solar cell manufacturing plant in South Carolina.

Last year, Enel North America and 3Sun USA announced plans to start a 3-GW solar cell manufacturing plant in Oklahoma as well, although there doesn’t appear to be any progress on construction.