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Clean energy co. abandons plans for Georgia factory after buying Texas plant

Freyr Battery acquired Trina Solar’s 5 GW solar module manufacturing facility in Wilmer, Texas. Photo courtesy of Freyr Battery

A clean energy company is abandoning a plan to build a giant electric battery factory in Atlanta's suburbs after it shifted to buy a solar panel plant in Texas.

Freyr Battery told officials on Thursday that it wouldn't build a $2.6 billion plant that was supposed to hire more than 700 people, after sending a Jan. 21 letter to the Coweta County Development Authority announcing its plans to end the project.

The factory would have built batteries to store electricity produced by renewable sources and release it later, company officials said. It would have been the second-largest battery factory worldwide when it was announced in 2023. But Freyr, a startup founded in 2018, never began construction on the 368-acre site.

Freyr, which moved its corporate headquarters from Norway to Newnan in part to maximize its eligibility for the U.S. tax benefits of President Joe Biden's climate law, said it was shifting its focus to a newly opened solar panel factory that it bought last year for $340 million from top Chinese solar panel maker Trina Solar. The facility is located in Wilmer, Texas (Dallas County).

“We are so grateful for the support and partnership we found in Coweta County and throughout Georgia," Freyr spokesperson Amy Jaick wrote in a statement, "However, as noted in our December release, we are focusing at the moment on the solar module manufacturing facility in Texas.”

The Newnan Times-Herald first reported the story, saying Freyr senior vice president of business development Jason Peace met Thursday with local officials. Peace told Coweta County Development Authority board members that the decision was driven by rising interest rates, falling battery prices, a change in company leadership and a shift in its goals, authority President Sarah Jacobs wrote in an email Friday.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development said the state conveyed a $7 million grant to buy a site for Freyr in Newnan, about 35 miles southwest of Atlanta. Department spokesperson Jessica Atwell said the state and company are “working together” to ensure the money is “repaid expeditiously.” Freyr may also owe money to Coweta County.

“Georgia’s incentives process protects the Georgia taxpayer, and when a company’s plans change, that process ensures discretionary incentives are repaid," Atwell said in a statement.

Jacobs said planning for the project made Coweta County a stronger candidate for future projects.

The company had said it planned to build battery factories in Norway and Finland but said in November that it will try to sell its European business. The company also said it was terminating its license for technology to make batteries, paying $3 million to the company it was licensed from.

Tom Einar Jensen, then the company's CEO, told investors in August that it had grown difficult to raise money to make batteries because of a surplus of Chinese batteries being produced at lower costs. The company said it was switching its strategy into businesses that would allow it to raise cash, including solar panel manufacturing. The company saw its cash on hand fall from $253 million at the end of 2023 to $182 million on Sept. 30.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has targeted recruitment of the electric vehicle industry.

Korean firm SK Innovation built a $2.6 billion battery plant in Commerce, northeast of Atlanta and hired 3,000 workers, but later laid off or furloughed some workers.

Hyundai Motor Group has started production at a $7.6 billion electric vehicle and battery plant near Savannah, with plans to hire 8,500 workers. Electric truck maker Rivian revived its plans to build a plant east of Atlanta after a $6.6 billion loan from the Biden administration.

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A View From HETI

Chevron ranks among America's best places to work. Photo courtesy of Chevron

Nearly a dozen public and private Houston-based companies have been hailed among the best places to work in 2025 by U.S. News and World Report, with four from the energy sector.

The annual "U.S. News Best Companies to Work For" report examines thousands of publicly-traded companies around the world to determine the best employers based on six metrics including work-life balance and flexibility; quality of pay and benefits; job and company stability; career opportunities and professional development; and more. The companies were not ranked, but included based on reader surveys and publicly available data about each workplace.

New for the 2025-2026 ratings,U.S. News expanded its methodology to include privately owned companies and companies with internship opportunities for recent graduates and new, current, and prospective students. Companies were also grouped into job-specific and industry-specific lists, and the publication also added a new list highlighting "employers that are particularly friendly to employees who are also caregivers in their personal lives."

U.S. News included seven publicly-traded companies and four privately owned companies in Houston on the lists.

Houston-based energy companies on the list

It may not come as a surprise that oil and gas corporation Chevron landed at the top of the list of top public employers in the Energy Capital of the World. The energy giant currently employs more than 45,000 people, earns $193.47 billion in annual revenue, and has a market cap of $238.74 billion. The company earned high ratings by U.S. News for its job stability, "belongingness," and quality of pay.

Chevron also appeared in U.S. News'industry-specific "Best in Energy and Resources" list, the "Best Companies in the South" list, and the "Best for Internships" list.

Chevron is joined by three other Houston energy leaders:

  • Calpine – Best in Energy and Resources; Best Companies (overall)
  • ConocoPhillips – Best in Energy and Resources; Best Companies (overall); Best in Caregiving; Best Companies in the South
  • Occidental – Best in Energy and Resources; Best Companies (overall); Best Companies in the South

Other top companies to work for in Houston are:

  • American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) — Best in Engineering and Construction; Best Companies (overall)
  • Hines – Best in Real Estate and Facilities Management; Best Companies (overall)
  • Insperity, Kingwood – Best in Healthcare and Research; Best Companies (overall); Best in Caregiving; Best Companies in the South
  • KBR – Best in Engineering and Construction; Best Companies (overall); Best Companies in the South
  • Men's Warehouse – Best in Consumer Products; Best Companies (overall)
  • PROS – Best in Information Technology; Best Companies (overall); Best Companies in the South
  • Skyward Specialty Insurance – Best in Finance and Insurance; Best Companies (overall); Best Companies in the South
"'Best' is a subjective term relative to career satisfaction, and many aspects factor into someone’s decision to apply for a job with any given company," U.S. News said. "But some universally desired factors can contribute to a good workplace, such as quality pay, good work-life balance, and opportunities for professional development and advancement

In all, 30 employers headquartered in the Lone Star State made it onto U.S. News' 2025-2026 "Best Places to Work For" lists. Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area tied for the most employers make the list, at 11 companies each. Diamondback Energy in Midland was the only company from West Texas to make it on the list for the second year in a row.

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A version of this article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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