S-Energy, a spinoff of Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics, checked out three potential sites Tuesday, according to Ocean Yuan, founder of Grape Solar, a Eugene solar panel company.
On S-Energy’s list were the former Hynix plant in west Eugene, the former Shorewood Packaging plant in north Springfield and the Monaco RV plant in Coburg. Monaco is transferring its motor home manufacturing to Indiana.
Although the discussions are still only preliminary, David Yoo, general manager of business development for S-Energy America, said Tuesday, “I think Eugene offers a lot of potential. We’re very interested in the Eugene work force. We want to understand more about BETC (Business Energy Tax Credits) and some of our options.
“We’ll discuss this and, at the end of December or early January, I’d like to bring some of our engineers here,” Yoo said, and, after that, senior management. S-Energy has checked out some other locations, he said, “and we will continue to have our options open until we finalize some of the details. We’d like to come to some type of conclusion in the first half of 2012 and have production ready to go by late 2012. We can make decisions very quickly.”
If the company sets up a plant in Lane County, it would employ about 150 people directly, “with a multiplier of about three times that amount,” Yoo said.
Yuan said a representative of AUO Green Energy (America), a subsidiary of a Taiwanese firm, is also planning to arrive in Eugene this week for a look around.
Yuan said he’s received calls and e-mails from Asian solar manufacturers since he set up his company in 2009, with the backing of some Chinese firms. But those calls and e-mails took on a new urgency after SolarWorld and six unnamed U.S.-based manufacturers of solar panels filed a federal complaint last month, alleging that Chinese solar companies were dumping their products in the United States at artificially low prices. The SolarWorld complaint is seeking higher tariffs against the Chinese products.
Companies in countries like Taiwan and South Korea would be better able to compete in the United States if China is hit with higher import duties, Yuan said, while Chinese companies will be looking to locate production outside of China to avoid the increased tariffs on Chinese-made goods.
This means a sudden surge of interest in locating solar plants in the United States, Yuan said. “People are saying, ‘If we don’t do this, what is the other alternative to get into the U.S. market? There is none. So the door will be closed.’ So now, who can they partner with in America to set up a factory in an ideal location that is relatively low cost?”
That would be him, and Eugene-Springfield, respectively, Yuan said. Grape Solar’s solar panels, currently imported from China, are now sold on both Costco’s and Home Depot’s websites, Yuan said. And he has two more deals in the works.
As for Eugene-Springield, in addition to a skilled, stable workforce with a well-known work ethic, there is good transportation, low real estate prices, low cost of doing business and proximity to major markets in California, Yuan said.
“We always wanted Asian manufacturers to set up a factory here,” he said. “Then we are the front man for them. I have never been so optimistic before.”
SOURCE: http://www.registerguard.com/web/business/27249458-41/solar-yuan-eugene-energy-chinese.html.csp
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