Nextracker Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT), a global market leader in utility-scale solar trackers, and MSS Steel Tubes USA, a joint venture of Metalogalva and Soufer, today announced the commissioning of a new Tennessee factory to manufacture low-carbon steel components for Nextracker’s solar tracking systems. The Memphis-based facility will manufacture Nextracker steel torque tubes, creating 129 jobs and generating millions of dollars in local economic investment.
“We chose Memphis for our first U.S. plant to support Nextracker’s utility-scale solar demand across the Southeast,” said António Pedro Antunes, CEO of Metalogalva Group. “Memphis has the transportation, infrastructure, and capable workforce necessary to support a solar manufacturing program like this.”
Nextracker’s dedicated tube mill will feed projects in Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, and Georgia. Tennessee-based Silicon Ranch—which pioneered utility-scale solar in the Southeast—is developing many of those projects, having signed a supply agreement for 1.5 gigawatts with Nextracker last year, and another new 3 gigawatt supply agreement today.
“Nextracker’s new Tennessee tube mill not only helps us maintain our 100% track record for successful project delivery but also enables us to support additional investments in American manufacturing while lowering carbon production processes of our supply chain, and reducing volatility and logistics risks, all from our home state,” said Reagan Farr, Silicon Ranch Co-Founder and CEO.
“This is what energy security looks like: New U.S. manufacturing jobs using American-made steel to produce affordable clean energy,” said Dan Shugar, Founder and CEO of Nextracker. “Customers want domestic, low-carbon technologies like solar power. We are excited to inaugurate a new dedicated Nextracker manufacturing line in Memphis with MSS Steel Tubes USA, and to continue to team with Silicon Ranch with a new 3 GW multi-year agreement to provide the Tennessee Valley and greater Southeast with our high performing systems.”
Portuguese industrial company Metalogalva Group and Brazilian steelmaker Soufer Group formed MSS Steel Tubes USA to reconfigure a vacant industrial building to manufacture for Nextracker.
Nextracker and MSS Steel Tubes held a ceremony on May 18th to dedicate the steel tube line in partnership with Silicon Ranch. The Tennessee Commissioner of Economic Development, Stuart McWhorter, joined the event along with Abby Hopper, the CEO of Solar Energy Industries Association, and David Burritt, CEO of U.S. Steel.
Nextracker’s collaboration with MSS Steel Tubes USA underscores the Tennessee Valley’s growth as a regional manufacturing hub for the Southeast. As more companies seek to locate their manufacturing capacity in the U.S., Nextracker has already delivered gigawatts of U.S.-made products to solar developers. Today’s announcement shows that Nextracker stands ready for the next generation of utility-scale projects in the Southeast with products manufactured in the Tennessee Valley.
About Nextracker
Nextracker is the leading provider of intelligent, integrated solar tracker and software solutions used in utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects around the world. Our products enable solar panels in utility-scale power plants to follow the sun’s movement across the sky and optimize plant performance. With operating fleet in over 30 countries, Nextracker leads the solar industry with solar tracker technologies that increase energy production while reducing costs for significant plant ROI.
For more information, please visit www.nextracker.com. Stay in touch with us: Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook
About MSS Steel Tubes
MSS Steel Tubes USA LLC is a subsidiary of MSS Steel Tubes SA, which is based in Portugal. The company was founded with participation from Metalogalva Group, from Portugal, and Soufer Group, from Brazil. MSS Steel Tubes opened its first U.S. production facility in Memphis, Tennessee in 2023.
About Silicon Ranch
Founded in 2011, in Tennessee, Silicon Ranch is a fully integrated provider of customized renewable energy, carbon, and battery storage solutions for a diverse set of partners across North America. The company is one of the largest independent power producers in the country, with a portfolio that includes more than five gigawatts of solar and battery storage systems that are contracted, under construction, or operating across the U.S. and Canada. Silicon Ranch owns and operates every project in its portfolio and has maintained an unblemished track record of project execution, having successfully commissioned every project it has contracted in its history.
To learn more, visit siliconranch.com.
