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(Updated) The Obama Administration has injected Recovery Act stimulants into the clean-energy sector yet again, this time with the eagerly anticipated news of $2.3 billion in advanced energy manufacturing tax credits awarded to 183 projects. Also known more wonkily as Section 48C credits, the investment tax breaks have been a cornerstone of the White House green team’s—and the industry’s--strategy, touted as a way to kick-start more domestic manufacturing and create thousands of desperately needed jobs.
The credits will be worth up to 30% of each planned project, which the Feds say “will leverage private capital for a total investment of nearly $7.7 billion in high-tech manufacturing in the United States.” Projects must be completed by 2014, and, coincidentally, as many as 30% of them may be done this year.
An Energy Department spokesperson told me that there were a total of 470 applicants under consideration, accounting for $10.6 billion in credits representing some $25 billion in total investments.
This means roughly 39% of those who applied for the credits received them. For the “losers,” the well is dry for now: she said the manufacturing ITC is capped at $2.3 billion.
The big news here: the list of recipients reveals that solar PV and thermal companies garnered a sizeable chunk of the credits—at least $1 billion.
The spreadsheet of recipients is divided between applicants who chose to offer some specifics about their projects, and those that gave the legally required minimum of company name and credit amount. Still, the vast majority of solar winners provided brief descriptions of their projects as well as the planned locations of the facilities.
Forty-four projects are cited with more details, and approximately 14 with the bare minimum. Why approximately? Because certain companies—like DuPont—play in several different cleantech sectors and may/may not have won certain awards for solar stuff. Plus about a dozen companies received more than one credit award.
My rough calculation finds more than $840 million in credits for the 44, and another $170 million or so (again, with the aforementioned qualification) for the others, so to call the total solar nut “more than a billion dollars” seems plausible.
Of that, the majority of solar credits went to projects using the “P” technology, as in PV. Of those photovoltaic recipients, the beneficiaries come from the crystalline silicon, thin film, and concentrator PV camps.
Dow Corning gets the largest cumulative awards, with its Hemlock Semi unit receiving the largest single credit--$141,870,000 for its polysilicon plant in Michigan. The silane plant being built nearby earns the parent company its other morsel of tax benefits--$27.3 million. (See update at end of blog for revised/corrected information and a subsequent blog for the story behind the revision)
The second-largest solar-sector credit--$128,482,287 (how did they come up with that exact figure?)--also goes to a materials-oriented facility: Wacker Polysilicon’s site being constructed in Charleston, TN.
Other big winners in the materials space include DuPont ($50,730,000 for its Circleville, OH, factory producing polyvinyl fluoride films for module backsheets) and Dow Chemical ($17,814,261 for making solar shingles and other building-integrated PV products). On the opposite end of the monetary spectrum, the smallest solar award also goes to a materials project--$149,100 for PPG Industries' antireflective coating films.
Fortunately, the multinational conglomerates did not walk away with most of the tax credits. Far from it. Smaller companies also got some big breaks.
CIGS developer/manufacturer MiaSolé pulls down more than a whopping $101 million in credits, UMG silicon cell producer CaliSolar receives $51.5 million, printed CIGS innovator Nanosolar scores $43.5 million, stealthy Stion (which is described as making “CIGS on glass”) sees $37.5 million, and flexible thin-film-silicon upstart Xunlight earns $34.5 million.
Some cell and module biggees also got in on the 48C action. First Solar gets a $16.3 million credit to help complete its Perrysburg, OH, expansion, SolarWorld nabs a cool $82.2 million to help with its Hillsboro, OR, buildout, SunPower benefits from >$10 million in credits, and BP Solar receives $11.67 million in breaks.
Just what those last two companies will be using their tax credits for remains unknown, since they declined to provide more details (although SunPower plans to build a module plant in the US, BP’s recent flight from U.S. manufacturing makes their award a bit perplexing).
The spreadsheet also may have inadvertently tipped the hands of a few companies before they had a chance to formally announce their plans.
Yingli Green Energy Americas is apparently building its first domestic moduling plant in Phoenix, if the info is to be believed, and will get an ITC of $4,534,320 to help things along. An outfit named Centrosolar Oregon LLC (gee, any idea who might own them?) will receive $4,740,000 for its cSi panel plant in Gresham. CPV pioneer Amonix—which nabbed two credits totaling more than $9.5 million—will be using those benies for facilities in Las Vegas and Phoenix.
The more nationalistically inclined reader might note another trend among the tax credit beneficiaries: many of them are not American companies, but the U.S. operations of foreign companies. In addition to Wacker, SolarWorld, Yingli, and Centrosolar, overseas outfits cashing in include a gaggle of “S” companies like Suntech, Sumco, Sharp, Schott, and Saint Gobain.
When I saw which companies collected the tax credits, I sent out an email blast seeking comment to execs at several of them. So far, I’ve received a couple of replies (hey, it's a Friday afternoon on the West Coast as I write this...I’ll update the blog if/when I receive more).
Here’s what Nanosolar’s head honcho, Martin Roscheisen, wrote back:
“I was traveling in Europe when our VP of corporate development, Brian Sager, himself speaking with staffers in the US Senate building at the time of the announcement, called me about the news. (Brian is heading this up for us.)
“We are psyched about the Obama administration awarding a $43.3MM tax credit to Nanosolar as this allows us to continue to aggressively invest in ground-breaking innovation and accelerate hiring for high-value technology manufacturing jobs which secure a sustainable future for America.”
Although not a direct reply, Dow Corning did send me its timely press release with predictable statements from two of its C-level team.
“These manufacturing tax credits are a critical step in establishing new clean-technology manufacturing jobs to the United States,” stated Stephanie A. Burns, chairman/president/CEO of Dow Corning. “This bold investment will propel America into an era of sustained, renewable energy use and help put Americans back to work.”
“Green jobs are real, and this announcement shows that the United States is serious about becoming a global leader in alternative energy technologies,” said Rick Doornbos, Hemlock Semiconductor president/CEO. “Hemlock Semiconductor is creating more than 1500 jobs while investing billions of dollars in Michigan and Tennessee and will continue to grow as the country and world commit to a clean energy future.”
And that other guy, Obama, had this to say from the White House’s spin factory:
“Building a robust clean energy sector is how we will create the jobs of the future. The Recovery Act awards I am announcing today will help close the clean energy gap that has grown between America and other nations while creating good jobs, reducing our carbon emissions, and increasing our energy security.”
(To see the White House press release, with the link to the full list of selected projects at the bottom, click here.)
BLOG UPDATE: An error in the original spreadsheet listing provided at the DOE Website showed REC Silicon with a $1.5 million investment tax credit. The company actually won a $155 million credit, making it the single-largest recipient of the Section 48 awards. For the story on how that discrepancy came to light, check this installment of Chip Shots.
PHOTOS BY TOM CHEYNEY
