MEMPHIS, Tenn.—Nextracker Inc., a global provider of utility-scale solar trackers, and MSS Steel Tubes USA, a joint venture of Metalogalva and Soufer, reported the commissioning of a new Tennessee factory to manufacture low-carbon steel components for Nextracker’s solar tracking systems.
The Memphis-based facility will manufacture Nextracker steel torque tubes, creating an anticipated 129 jobs and generating millions of dollars in local economic investment, according to a release from the companies.
“We chose Memphis for our first U.S. plant to support Nextracker’s utility-scale solar demand across the Southeast,” said António Pedro Antunes, CEO of Metalogalva Group, in the release. “Memphis has the transportation, infrastructure, and capable workforce necessary to support a solar manufacturing program like this.”
Nextracker’s dedicated tube mill will feed projects in Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, and Georgia. Tennessee-based Silicon Ranch, a pioneer of utility-scale solar in the Southeast, is developing many of those projects, according to the release. The company signed a supply agreement for 1.5 gigawatts with Nextracker last year, and another new 3-gigawatt supply agreement in May 2023.
“Nextracker’s new Tennessee tube mill not only helps us maintain our 100 percent track record for successful project delivery, but also enables us to support additional investments in American manufacturing while lowering carbon production processes of our supply chain, and reducing volatility and logistics risks, all from our home state,” said Silicon Ranch Co-Founder and CEO Reagan Farr, in the release.
A line worker at the dedicated Nextracker manufacturing line at MSS Steel Tubes USA’s factory in Memphis. (Photo: Nextracker)
Portuguese industrial company Metalogalva Group and Brazilian steelmaker Soufer Group formed MSS Steel Tubes USA to reconfigure a vacant industrial building to manufacture for Nextracker. MSS Steel Tubes USA opened its first U.S. production facility in Memphis in 2023.
“This is what energy security looks like: New U.S. manufacturing jobs using American-made steel to produce affordable clean energy,” said Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of Nextracker, in the release. “Customers want domestic, low-carbon technologies like solar power. We are excited to inaugurate a new dedicated Nextracker manufacturing line in Memphis with MSS Steel Tubes USA, and to continue to team with Silicon Ranch with a new 3-GW multi-year agreement to provide the Tennessee Valley and greater Southeast with our high performing systems.”
Nextracker and MSS Steel Tubes held a ceremony on May 18 to dedicate the steel tube line in partnership with Silicon Ranch. The Tennessee Commissioner of Economic Development, Stuart McWhorter, joined the event along with Abby Hopper, CEO of Solar Energy Industries Association, and David Burritt, CEO of U.S. Steel.
Nextracker provides intelligent, integrated solar tracker and software products used in utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects around the world. Its products enable solar panels in utility-scale power plants to follow the sun’s movement across the sky and optimize plant performance, the company said in the release.
Nextracker’s collaboration with MSS Steel Tubes USA is said to underscore the Tennessee Valley’s growth as a regional manufacturing hub for the Southeast. As more companies seek to locate their manufacturing capacity in the U.S., Nextracker has already delivered gigawatts of U.S.-made products to solar developers. The company said that it “stands ready for the next generation of utility-scale projects in the Southeast with products manufactured in the Tennessee Valley.”