![\"Production](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6P72L3Y6WREQZO34E3XXPLR674.jpg\")
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Production employees Raquel Sanchez Nino, left, and Kenia Landaverde check solar panels for framing imperfections at T1 Energy\u2019s G1_Dallas manufacturing facility on Nov. 13, 2025, in Wilmer.<\/p>\n
Angela Piazza<\/p>\n
The company is investing $1 billion in the state of Texas and in domestic manufacturing, including G1 Dallas<\/a> and its forthcoming G2_Austin, a 5-gigawatt solar cell manufacturing facility being constructed in Rockdale. The latter is expected to begin production later this year.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, we couldn\u2019t think of any other place we would rather be building right now,\u201d Gold said. \u201cTexas has got a great workforce, it\u2019s got a great business environment and it\u2019s got really good energy prices, which are all important.\u201d<\/p>\n Nationwide, manufacturing has stumbled under the weight of macroeconomic headwinds<\/a> like tariffs and stubborn inflation. Yet in North Texas, the sector has recently experienced a noticeable surge in domestic manufacturing, as other companies also place bets that the region \u2014 and state \u2014 can support these kinds of facilities and jobs at a rapid pace. <\/p>\n Some experts and manufacturers say the alternative energy industry has particularly acted as a catalyst for the uptick, as the region\u2019s population continues to multiply and data centers move in to support the artificial intelligence boom.<\/p>\n Clean energy, building renaissance<\/p>\n Manufacturing in Texas isn\u2019t new. It has led the nation as the No. 1 exporting state for 23 years in a row, accounting for more exports than California, New York and Louisiana combined, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce\u2019s Bureau of Economic Analysis.<\/p>\n As of December 2024, Texas exports year to date totaled $455 billion<\/a>, a 2% increase from 2023, and exports accounted for 17.3% of Texas GDP, according to the Texas Economic Development Corporation.<\/p>\n A manufacturing renaissance in the U.S. has been driven by a historic wave of investment in clean energy technologies like wind, solar and battery storage, according to a study published last May by American Clean Power<\/a>.<\/p>\n MJ Shiao, the trade group\u2019s vice president of supply chain and manufacturing, said the largely bipartisan push to reinvigorate domestic manufacturing came from the COVID pandemic, when global trade was disrupted and showed how fragile supply chains were. Then, he said, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 continued the momentum.<\/p>\n In the past couple years, American Clean Power tracked about 200 primary clean power component manufacturing facilities across the country. About 20 of those \u2014 a majority solar \u2014 are in Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cA big driver of that is Texas being a clean energy hub with all the deployments of solar and wind and batteries that are already in Texas, that puts these facilities close to their customer base,\u201d Shiao said.<\/p>\n Also driving the energy manufacturing wave are parts of the supply chains being completely absent from the U.S. That prompted companies to start their manufacturing businesses domestically with the end product, like a solar panel or battery energy storage system, before adding upstream components like solar or battery cells.<\/p>\n \u201cYou do see these clusters building up in and around Dallas, and so that\u2019s helped Texas emerge as one of these leaders in clean energy manufacturing,\u201d Shiao said.<\/p>\n \u2018North Texas checks a lot of the boxes\u2019<\/p>\n In Mesquite last summer, Chinese manufacturer Hithium opened its first U.S.-based manufacturing facility.<\/p>\n The nearly half-million square-foot plant East of Dallas is producing complete battery energy storage systems, as well as battery modules and components.<\/p>\n Like the other manufacturing facilities, Hithium\u2019s plants have high-level technology with artificial intelligence and robotics.<\/p>\n The facility was at about 60% production with 160 employees, according to James Boswell, Hithium VP for North America operations, who spoke during a panel discussion at The Intersolar & Energy Storage North America Texas conference<\/a> in November.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve built many factories in my career in the U.S., and this was probably the smoothest, fastest, most supportive and complex factory situation that I\u2019ve been a part of,\u201d Boswell said. \u201cTexas has been very beneficial for Hithium and that\u2019s why we chose it.\u201d<\/p>\n Abdul El Baba, vice president of advanced technology at Gray Construction, which designed and built the facility, also praised the local community\u2019s business-friendly environment, adding that North Texas is becoming a hub for smart manufacturing.<\/p>\n \u201cNorth Texas checks a lot of the boxes: logistics, talent, incentive and just the growing demand. It\u2019s quickly becoming like a magnet for clean energy investment,\u201d El Baba said. <\/p>\n Companies \u201c…want to build in the U.S. and that\u2019s a key indicator that this is an emerging market.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018A bit of a bet\u2019 Quentin Nelson holds a flat pack battery at UTD’s Batteries and Energy to Advance Commercialization and National Security (BEACONS), a 15,000-square-foot facility that opened earlier this year, at UTD Dallas, in Dallas, Texas, Wednesday, November 19, 2025<\/p>\n Anja Schlein<\/p>\n The University of Texas at Dallas is also embracing the uptick in clean energy manufacturing, opening its new Batteries and Energy to Advance Commercialization and National Security (or BEACONS) facility earlier this year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re placing a bit of a bet here,\u201d Joseph Pancrazio, UTD\u2019s vice president for research and innovation, said. <\/p>\n \u201c \u2026 It\u2019s easy for academics to stay in the realm of theory and basic science, but we know our best stories are going to be those that support economic development, and we are placing a bet that energy storage is going to be an area for continued economic development not only for North Texas but for the country,” Pancrazio added.<\/p>\n Supported in part by a $30 million award from the U.S. Department of Defense and millions more in private capital, the 15,000-square-foot facility is designed to develop and commercialize new battery technologies and manufacturing processes, as well as train students for jobs in the energy storage industry. It\u2019s set up to fast-track energy storage innovation and close supply-chain gaps.<\/p>\n On a recent afternoon, students in white coats and blue jackets buzzed around the different rooms of the facility, taking notes, weighing out samples of anode material and monitoring the battery-making machines.<\/p>\n Dr. Kyeongjae Cho, professor of materials science and engineering, talks about the Winder Machine at UTD’s Batteries and Energy to Advance Commercialization and National Security (BEACONS) a 15,000-square-foot facility that opened earlier this year, at UTD Dallas, in Dallas, Texas, Wednesday, November 19, 2025.<\/p>\n Anja Schlein<\/p>\n BEACONS director Kyeongjae Cho stopped by a lab station and picked up a finished battery.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we are doing here is really reengaging manufacturing production, connecting with innovation and streamlining the whole process of novel batteries,\u201d Cho said. \u201cThis is really leading the change the whole country is trying to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n Hopeful the upward trend will continue<\/p>\n The revival is a harbinger of the state\u2019s broader manufacturing activity, which is accelerating, according to a recent survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas<\/a> <\/p>\n Business executives responding to the Dallas Fed\u2019s survey reported factory activity expanded at a markedly faster pace in November. <\/p>\n The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, rose 15 points to 20.5, signaling a notable increase in output growth. Expectations for the next six months also remained positive. <\/p>\n Tony Bennett, president and CEO of the Texas Association of Manufacturers<\/a>, said Texas\u2019 manufacturing renaissance is more about the transition to advanced and smart manufacturing.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been so many advances in production and processing and now with AI coming along rapidly, you\u2019re going to see a whole \u2018nother element to manufacturing,\u201d Bennett said. <\/p>\n Bennett is optimistic the upward trend in domestic production will continue and Texas is set to remain a leader with the odds stacked in its favor. Pluses include infrastructure that\u2019s close to ports; highways and markets; a young workforce; strong education systems with technical colleges and higher education institutions; low energy costs, and business-friendly tax environment. <\/p>\n \u201cYou can see why folks are coming here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Garcia shared behind-the-scenes stories, including filming in Fort Worth and how the putting green scene manifested.<\/p>\n API President Mike Sommers said permitting reform is the difference between meeting the demand or not.<\/p>\n This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inside T1 Energy\u2019s state-of-the-art G1_Dallas facility in Wilmer, employees are dressed in gray and yellow vests, stationed at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[451,411,412,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-125750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-energy","tag-future-of-north-texas","tag-future-of-north-texas-energy-environment","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Quentin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/YBZG6RQXINGANEKGSNXOWAQ26Q.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/YKWDXKOLK5EHPAJXU6XHUUEUIA.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Andy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IDYYFWZO6RGFVPLTVGWYKRI5EY.jpg\")
<\/a>Andy Garcia on why \u2018Landman\u2019 is \u2018positive for the American oil and gas industry\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/S5RAASKIANARTG6SUONLWBAENI.jpg\")
<\/a>Oil & gas lobby: Infrastructure, permitting reform essential ahead of \u2018Demand Decade\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n