Hanwha Group plans to build a plant in the U.S. with an annual production capacity of more than 1.6GW

Hanwha Group has announced that it will open a U.
S.
-based solar module factory in 2019, with an estimated annual production capacity of more than 1.
6 GW
.

The facility will be located in Whitfield County, Georgia, near the Tennessee border
.
Hanwha said Whitfield County will give it $30 million worth of benefits
by offering free land and tax breaks.

Hanwha said that the products it will supply will be passivated emitter post-contact (PERC) modules
for roof and ground mounting sections in the United States.
The solar cells will be supplied to the facility
from the company's Korean manufacturer.

The Korea Times said it was the company's last option
based on a prior public statement.

South Korea Group CEO Cho Hyun-soo revealed in January that South Korea filed a complaint
with the World Trade Organization about Section 201 tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on solar panels.

If the facility will assemble 1.
6 GW of solar modules valued at 50 cents/watt, this will avoid $200 million in import tariffs in 2019, $160 million in 2020 and $120 million in
the final tariff year of 2021.

It also means that Hanwha Group will soon have manufacturing capabilities
in the United States, South Korea, Malaysia and China.

Since the Trump administration announced high tariffs on imported solar cells, the world's major manufacturers have begun to announce their factories in the United States to avoid high import taxes
.
JinkoSolar, for example, has announced the opening of a new facility in Jacksonville to support its 2.
75 GW supply agreement
with NextEra Energy.

SunPower also purchased a facility at SolarWorld Americas to produce
a range of P-type hybrid modules in the United States.
Itek and Solartech Universal also recently announced expansion plans
.

The current capacity of the Tesla-Panasonic Gigafactory is not yet clear, and Tesla maintains the expectation
that the factory will reach 1 GW in 2019.

With the Tesla-Panasonic Gigafactory reaching full capacity, SolarTech Universal and Mission Solar, and Hanwha Group's new plant expansion, the U.
S.
will have crystalline silicon module capacity of at least 4.
4 GW
by the end of 2019 if all plants are completed.

In addition, First Solar announced plans for the largest solar panel factory in the Western Hemisphere to manufacture its large-size thin-film solar modules
.
So, if you add in this 1.
8 GW of thin-film solar modules, the U.
S.
will have the capacity to meet half or more of the projected demand
.