1,800 jobs coming to Rockdale

T1 Energy announced a 5-gigawatt solar cell manufacturing facility at the Advanced Manufacturing and Logistics Campus at Sandow Lakes Ranch (SLR) which is projected to employ 1,800 workers by the last quarter of 2026. Construction will begin this summer.

The company executed a lease and purchase option for 100 acres at SLR which is a capital investment of up to $850 million. The facility will be called G2Austin US and is expected to be “one of the largest solar manufacturing facilities in the United States,” according to a T1 Energy news release.

“This is very good news for Rockdale and Milam County,” said Rockdale Municipal Development District Economic Director Jim Gibson. “This will get us really close to the number of manufacturing jobs we had with Alcoa. Peak manufacturing at Alcoa was in 2000 with 1,800 jobs in Milam County.”

“The fourth quarter and subsequent start of 2025 have been punctuated by our strategic repositioning as T1 Energy,” said Daniel Barcelo, T1’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.

Barcelo continued: “Having completed a transformative acquisition on an accelerated timeline, we are now focusing on the next phases of our plan to become an American, vertically integrated solar + battery storage leader.

“Our teams are making impressive progress with the ramp of U.S. solar module production at G1 Dallas, we are moving forward swiftly with project development of our planned G2 Austin U.S. solar cell facility, and we are executing our global corporate transformation to build a cash flow powerhouse.

“As we look forward to 2025 and beyond, we are excited about the growth prospects for the U.S. solar + battery storage market, and we are focused on establishing T1 as an engine of American energy, jobs, and advanced manufacturing.”

The company was formerly known as Freyr Battery and has rebranded to T1 Energy and chosen Austin as the location for the company’s global headquarters at 1211 E. Fourth Street.

“We chose Austin because it is a vibrant and fast-growing hub of renewable energy and advanced technology development, strategically located close to our operations,” Barcelo said.

From December 24 to January 2025, Milam County added 445 jobs, according to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics Report “the labor pool is the larges it’s been since December of 2008,” the report noted.