Wilmer’s Trina Solar sold a week after opening

WILMER – Last week, FREYR Battery announced it entered a $340 million deal with Chinese owned Trina Solar in Wilmer to acquire the U.S. solar manufacturing assets of Trina Solar Co., Ltd.

According to a release from FREYR, the transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, creating “A leading integrated U.S. owned and operated solar technology company with a pathway for value enhancing growth.”

The company is acquiring the five GW, 1.35 million-square-foot solar module manufacturing facility which began production on Nov. 1.

“Upon closing of the transaction, FREYR will execute a multi-phase strategic plan to establish a vertically integrated U.S. solar manufacturing footprint,” the release indicated.

An article in Renewable Energy World indicated perhaps the Chinese company was exiting the U.S. market “amidst a shifting political climate that promises to be increasingly hostile toward Chinese companies.”

FREYR Battery is a Georgia-based sustainable battery developer that was founded in Norway and is now located in the United States.

Its expectations are to “ramp up to full production in 2025 with 30% of estimated production volumes backed by firm offtake contracts with U.S. customers.

Trina Solar had initially invested more than $200 million in property and equipment when developing the Wilmer facility.

It should be a smooth transition as Trina Solar’s Head of Overseas Finance Center Mingxing Lin will join FREYR as the chief strategy officer and a member of the board of directors.