After scrapping plans to build a $2.6 billion battery energy storage system factory in Georgia, FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY) has rebranded itself as T1 Energy (NYSE: TE).
FREYR turned T1 Energy also has a new strategy: It says it’s committed to “becoming a vertically integrated US solar + battery storage leader from its new corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas.” T1 Energy expects to start trading under its new NYSE symbols on March 3.
In August, then-CEO Tom Einar Jensen told investors that a surplus of cheap Chinese batteries had made it harder to raise money to manufacture batteries, so the company switched its focus to solar panel manufacturing.
On December 24, FREYR announced closing its acquisition of China-headquartered Trina Solar’s 5-gigawatt (GW), 1.35 million-square-foot solar panel factory in Wilmer, Texas. The company renamed the factory G1 Dallas, and it employs more than 1,000 people. T1 says the solar panel production ramp is on schedule.
Daniel Barcelo, T1’s chairman of the board and chief executive officer, said, “More than 80% of new US electricity capacity in 2024 was solar and batteries. T1 plans to lead in the solar and battery markets by enabling the growth in energy supply required to support AI, data centers, reshoring, and electrification – to restore American industrial capacity and leadership in future advanced industries.”
T1 is moving forward with site selection for its upcoming US solar cell factory, G2, and expects to lock in a location by Q1 2025. Construction is still on track to kick off in mid-2025.
Read more: Chinese solar giant Trina sells its Texas factory a week after it opens
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