MT. IRON— More than 100 people, including both of Minnesota’s U.S. Senators turned out here to pay homage to the past and highlight the future of green energy employment on the Iron Range late last week. It was the official ribbon-cutting of a major expansion for Heliene, a Canadian-based company that manufactures solar panels, otherwise known as photovoltaics, from its plant in Mt. Iron.
The expansion, which was dedicated last Thursday to the late Sen. David Tomassoni, includes a much larger and more advanced solar panel assembly operation that will vastly expand the plant’s production.
When an earlier company, Silicon Energy, set up shop in the building more than ten years ago, it had the capacity to build about three megawatts worth of solar panels in a year— enough to power about 1,800 homes on average. The expanded plant, made possible by a $45 million investment, including $21 million in state funding and $1 million in St. Louis County funds for construction of the building and other improvements, will now be able to produce up to 900 megawatts worth of panels in a year, or enough to power 540,000 homes. That will make the Mt. Iron plant by far the largest of Heliene’s three manufacturing facilities, the others located near Sudbury, Ont. and in Florida. Employment at the plant will increase from the 65 workers currently on staff to about 100 by the end of the year.
The ramp-up in production comes at a time of extraordinary growth in the photovoltaic industry and has the potential to position the Iron Range as a leader in the production of solar panels in the U.S., said Sen. Amy Klobuchar who spoke at the event. “The fact is, we’ll now have the second biggest solar panel facility in the United States of America, right here.”
Sen. Tom Bakk said that was Sen. Tomassoni’s vision for the plant site, built more than a decade ago atop wasterock from the adjacent Minntac mining operation and that his experience and seniority in St. Paul made it possible to finance the original site work even before there was a plan for what might eventually come of it. “Let me tell you when you’re in St. Paul and you want money for a project that doesn’t exist. It’s not that easy,” Bakk said.
The site first became home to Silicon Energy, which later went out of business, but Heliene— a company with a longer track record— has since taken over the facility and now appears poised to dramatically increase solar panel production at the site. That increase, which is happening globally, has brought panel prices to a point where they can now power most homes at a cost equal to or cheaper than traditional power sources, particularly once solar tax credits, which were extended as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, are factored in. And, according to PV Tech News, the tax incentives created by the Inflation Reduction Act is prompting the company to start planning additional buildout of its manufacturing capacity in the U.S.
Sen. Tina Smith said the transition to renewable energy is already well underway and that the Iron Range can play a major role in fostering the new energy future. “This transition to a clean energy future is going to happen,” she said. “The only question is whether we lead or whether we follow and today we are showing that we are going to lead the way from Minnesota’s Iron Range. This project is about building the American supply chain for the solar panels that will power our transition to energy independence and a clean energy future.”
Smith, who was closely involved in the drafting of the Inflation Reduction Act, noted that the new law will directly benefit the new facility “through incentives for domestic manufacturing and development of domestic content.”
A company with a mission
In his opening comments last week, Heliene CEO Martin Pochtaruk spoke to his company’s stated commitment to healing the planet, and he paid homage to the Anishinabe. “We are located on land ceded in the 1854 treaty beween the Chippewa of Lake Superior and the federal government,” he said. “By acknowledging that we are on indigenous land, we recognize the truth of the land, allowing us to move in a path of truth and reconciliation.”
He said that the company’s mission is focused on healing and that “by assisting in the transition to affordable, sustainable, renewable energy, we make a commitment to pursuing equity.”
The company’s website cites the ancient Hebrew concept of Tikkun Olam, which in modern times refers to the responsibility all humans share to pursue social justice.