Nextracker Inc., a supplier of utility solar tracking equipment, and MSS Steel Tubes USA – a joint venture between Portuguese industrial company Metalogalva and Brazilian steelmaker Soufer – have ordered a new plant to manufacture low-carbon steel components for Nextracker’s solar tracking systems.
Located in Memphis, Tenn., the facility manufactures Nextracker steel moment tubes, creating 129 jobs and millions of dollars in local economic investment.
“We chose Memphis as our first US plant to support Nextracker’s utility-scale solar demand throughout the Southeast,” said António Pedro Antunes, CEO of Metalogalva Group. “Memphis has the necessary transportation, infrastructure and skilled workforce to support this kind of solar manufacturing program.”
Nextracker’s own pipeline plant feeds projects in Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi and Georgia. Tennessee-based Silicon Ranch is developing many of these projects, signing a 1.5GW supply agreement with Nextracker last year and a recent 3GW supply agreement.
“Nextracker’s new Tennessee pipeline facility … allows us to support additional investment in American manufacturing while decarbonizing our supply chain’s production processes and reducing volatility and logistics risks – all from our home state,” said Reagan Farr, founder and CEO of Silicon Ranch. .
Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of Nextracker, adds, “Energy security looks like this: New U.S. manufacturing sites use American steel to generate low-cost, clean energy. Customers want domestic low-carbon technologies like solar power.
Nextracker’s partnership with MSS Steel Tubes USA highlights the Tennessee Valley’s growth as a regional manufacturing hub for the Southeast. As more companies seek to locate manufacturing capacity in the United States, Nextracker has already supplied gigawatts of US-made products to solar developers.
