Heliene has invested an additional $10 million to expand an original manufacturing and assembly line at its Mountain Iron, Minn., facility.
Minnesota Line One, first installed in 2018 at 150 MW, has doubled its capacity to 300 MW with this expansion, situated contiguous to the 500 MW line installed 12 months ago. These upgrades will improve the efficiency of the line and enable Heliene to manufacture TOPCon solar modules, says the company.
“We’re proud to be delivering on our commitment to grow our U.S.-based manufacturing capacity and create new clean energy jobs with the refurbishment of Minnesota Line One,” says Martin Pochtaruk, Heliene CEO. “Recent funding and federal incentives are helping us grow our facilities and workforce to keep up with historically high demand for domestically produced solar PV modules. We’re thankful to our clients for enabling us to grow rapidly, while maintaining the customer-first approach Heliene has become known for.”
The expansion of Minnesota Line One is the latest milestone in Heliene’s continued growth and investment into the North American solar industry. In August, Heliene and community solar provider Nexamp entered into a partnership that includes a 1.5 GW module order to support the development of national community projects.
Heliene secured $170 million in debt and equity financing from OIC and 2 Shores Capital earlier this year, with existing customers also participating in the round. Heliene also announced plans to pursue a new manufacturing facility in the greater Minneapolis area in 2024.
