ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Maxeon Solar Technologies is a Singapore-based company.
A major development is coming to Mesa del Sol in the coming months and will bring 1,800 jobs to the area.
Singapore-based solar company, Maxeon Solar Technologies, said it will build a solar cell and panel manufacturing facility in the area. Most jobs at the facility will be entry-level, but others will require some form of engineering degree, or doctorate. “Hiring will start quiet soon,” said Bill Mulligan, chief executive officer for Maxeon Solar Technologies. “We are going to need people on the ground to manage the construction of the project, to start putting the infrastructure in place.”
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The company said it spent the last couple of years looking for the perfect location to build the plant, and just recently decided on New Mexico. Officials said it took the city, state, and company leaders to come to an agreement within 60 days. It will cost more than $1 billion and construction is said to begin in the coming months.
“New Mexico is moving faster and further, lifting our families out of poverty and creating serious and significant economic growth in this state,” said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The facility is expected to be almost two million square feet and will be behind the Aperture Center at Mesa Del Sol. Construction is expected to finish in 2025.
Maxeon said they chose New Mexico for a couple of reasons: the already existing engineering workforce in the city and state, and the infrastructure in place at Mesa Del Sol. “Absolutely our focus is definitely on the local community,” Mulligan explained. “We’d love to have people that live right here and work right here.”
The company claims they will be able to produce around eight million solar panels in Albuquerque each year when fully operational. Albuquerque is expected to receive an estimated of $4 billion in economic impact within the next decade. “They’re interesting jobs, not just moving one thing to another, but actually working on really cool technology,” added Mulligan.
Company leaders told KRQE News 13 that they have started talks to buy up more land in the area, but that nothing is set in stone just yet.
