Yaskawa America has unveiled plans to move its headquarters to the US state of Wisconsin, and invest US$180 million in expanding its operations in the state.
The company is the American subsidiary of Japanese manufacturing firm Yaskawa, which produces products for the robotics and solar industries, including solar inverters. As part of the investment, Yaskawa will consolidate its existing facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin into a single facility in Franklin, Wisconsin, in the next decade, which will include training and manufacturing facilities.
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The project will also be supported by local government, with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) authoring up to US$18 million in tax credits for the new facility, to be determined by the number of full-time jobs created by, and the total capital invested in, the project. Yaskawa America noted that it expects to create “more than 700” jobs once the facility begins operation.
Legislative support has been a hallmark of the US’ push for greater domestic solar manufacturing in recent years, with the tax credits offered under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in particular pushing the country’s annual module manufacturing capacity over 50GW earlier this year. It is for this reason that many in the industry fear the passage of president Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill”, as it threatens to slash federal support for US solar projects, at a time when both the manufacturing and deployment sectors are showing strong growth.
Yaskawa America’s investment in its US facilities will expand a solar manufacturing sector in Wisconsin that has historically focused on component manufacturing rather than module production. According to Renew Wisconsin, companies including Ingeteam and Eaton have built facilities to produce components including inverters, transformers and switchgears in the state, but there remains no large-scale module manufacturing in operation.
“Wisconsin is continuing to strengthen our position as a leader in advanced manufacturing, and we’re glad to help support this expansion and Yaskawa’s continued success in our state,” said Wisconsin governor Tony Evers, who announced the news alongside Yaskawa America and the WEDC.
