MEMPHIS, Tenn.—May 18, 2023 — Nextracker Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT), a global market leader in utility-scale solar trackers, and MSS Steel Tubes USA, a joint venture of Metalogalva and Soufer, today announced 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 129 jobs and generating millions of dollars in local economic investment.
“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. “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—which pioneered utility-scale solar in the Southeast—is developing many of those projects, having signed a supply agreement for 1.5 gigawatts with Nextracker last year, and another new 3 gigawatt supply agreement today.
"The Greater Memphis region continues to be a juggernaut of steel production, and we expect more manufacturing projects to choose Memphis as we build up our innovation economy and establish the Digital Delta as a global hub of inclusive jobs and advanced industries," said Ted Townsend, president & CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber. "Clean energy is the future, and now, thanks to investments like this one, that future will be crafted in Memphis."
To read the full release about the opening of the Memphis plant, click here.
