US unveils loan of up to $1.45 bil. to support Hanwha Qcells' bid to build Georgia solar complex

This file photo shows the aerial view of a solar power plant built by Hanwha in Ill., in this photo provided by Hanwha Qcells, June 21. Yonhap

The United States on Thursday announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.45 billion to Hanwha Qcells to support the Korean company's effort to build a solar supply chain facility in Georgia.

The Energy Department's Loan Program Office made the announcement to help finance the company's manufacturing facility in Cartersville, which the office said will produce ingots, wafers, cells and finished solar panels.

"The facility will be the largest ingot and wafer plant ever built in the United States and will reestablish critical parts of the domestic solar supply chain and reinforce the United States' status as a global clean energy leader," the office said in a press release.

"The factory will also be the first fully integrated silicon-based solar manufacturing facility constructed in the United States in over a decade, helping address gaps in the domestic solar manufacturing supply chain," it added.

Upon completion, the construction project will support 1,950 full-time operations jobs in Cartersville, with the project's investment expected to indirectly create nearly 6,800 jobs in Georgia's Bartow and Whitfield Counties, according to the office.

The company must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the department funds the loan, the office said. (Yonhap)