INOLA, Okla. — Enel North America is planning what they call one of the largest solar photovoltaic cell and panel manufacturing facility in America, right here in Inola.
The company announced Monday that construction is planned to begin in fall 2023 — with the first panel produced and available to the market by the end of 2024.
Governor Kevin Stitt spoke about the development during his press availability Friday.
“Really, really excited about them. That’s going to be the largest economic development in state history," Stitt said. "It is over a billion dollars worth of investments, over 1,500 jobs, when you put both of those together, that’s the largest in state history. And the fact that it’s in rural Oklahoma, I’m very, very excited about it.”
Enel said the facility will be over 2 million square feet and provide around 1,800 construction jobs for the area.
- Previous coverage >>> Gov. Stitt: Contract signed in "largest economic development in state history"
President Joe Biden also commented on the investment, saying the Inflation Reduction Act helped make this possible.
“Today’s announcement from Enel is just the latest proof that my Investing in America agenda is working, and American manufacturing is back. Good-paying jobs that Americans can raise a family on are being created in towns and communities in every corner of the country," Biden said. “Because of my Inflation Reduction Act, private capital is being invested in Oklahoma and all across the country, as communities step up to help build our clean energy economy. These new investments should be an investment not just in manufacturing, but also in our middle class. Companies like Enel have the opportunity to hire the most highly skilled, dedicated, and engaged workers in the world - American union members. While Republicans in Congress try to defund our Investing in America agenda, we will stand with working families to keep those jobs here in states like Oklahoma. We’ll continue to bring every community along to participate in America’s manufacturing renaissance, powered by American workers, and we won’t let any community be left behind.”
Enel has previously invested $3 billion into Oklahoma for over a decade with 13 wind farms and a regional office in Oklahoma City.
While the company and Stitt are touting this as the largest investment in Oklahoma history, it might not be the biggest for long.
Stitt said Friday he is still confident about what they are calling "Project Ocean," the potential investment from electric vehicle battery company Panasonic.
“We’re still really optimistic that we’re going to land, I think we call it project ocean right now, so we think we will land Project Ocean, which will even surpass this as the largest economic development in state history, and this is a five million square foot building, $5 billion investment and 3,500 direct jobs," Stitt said.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
