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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

SolarCity GigaFactory Facility To Be Located At Buffalo, New York’s High-Tech Manufacturing Innovation Hub At RiverBend

09/24/2014
A one million-square-foot site for the future SolarCity GigaFactory facility, which will manufacture solar panels, will be located at RiverBend in South Buffalo, New York. The project is expected to create more than 3,000 jobs in Western New York and a total of nearly 5,000 jobs in the state.

The SolarCity GigaFactory will be located at the Buffalo High-Tech Manufacturing Innovation Hub at RiverBend, a new START-UP NY site owned by the State University of New York's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. The SolarCity facility will be the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, with more than 1-gigawatt of annual solar capacity when it reaches full production, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Office.

“We said four years ago that we have to change the mentality of Buffalo, and everyday since we have been working hard to continue this new energy and momentum in Western New York. Less than a year after announcing our original plan, one of the leading solar companies in the world is coming on board and making this the largest advancement for Buffalo's economy in a generation," Governor Cuomo said. “This is bigger than anything we could have imagined. It is the perfect metaphor for Buffalo, where the fundamental strength was the available hydropower. That hydropower now, that renewable energy now, will fuel the renewable energy industry for the future. I am incredibly proud that the state is playing a role in this project, because Buffalo’s future is New York’s future, and today that future is brighter than ever.”

SolarCity purchased Silevo, one of the designated anchor RiverBend tenants, and assumed an agreement with the State to increase more than fivefold the manufacturing capability of the clean energy facility. Silevo is a company that develops and manufactures high-efficiency silicon solar cells and modules.

SolarCity, the nation's largest solar power provider, will spend $5 billion over the next decade in connection with the creation and operation of the facility in New York, and New York State will invest a total of $750 million through the Buffalo Billion and other state resources to establish infrastructure, construct the 1.2 million square foot facility and purchase required equipment. The state investment will replicate the model created in Albany at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, in which rather than giving money directly to private companies, the State invests in core infrastructure and equipment and uses that equipment as the incentive to attract companies to establish themselves in these new high-tech facilities. The factory will be online and in high volume manufacturing as early as the first quarter of 2016.

SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive said, "Governor Cuomo shares our view that the United States can return to its place atop the world in advanced technology manufacturing. Thanks to the Governor’s leadership, we will be able to quintuple the output capacity and economic impact of Silevo’s original commitment. I couldn’t be more excited to partner with the state to make Western New York a global capital for clean energy development."

Dr. Alain Kaloyeros, CEO and Officer in Charge of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, said, "This is a crowning achievement for Governor Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion initiative and his strategic vision to bolster New York’s burgeoning high-tech economy. Under the Governor’s leadership, the nanotechnology boom that began at CNSE in Albany has now spread clear across the state, creating tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investments. Partnering with a global powerhouse like SolarCity on such a tremendous scale solidifies New York’s reputation as a world leader in next generation technology development and establishes Buffalo as the epicenter for solar panel manufacturing. As we have seen at our other technology hubs across the state, this will spur significant additional growth and investment. We congratulate Governor Cuomo, SolarCity and the people of Western New York, who are truly the region’s greatest resource. We look forward to building the future together.”

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