A British solar company has set its sights on building a billion-dollar photovoltaic manufacturing facility in Montreal, aiming to supply both Canada and the United States.
“Quebec offers an extraordinary concentration of solar and clean energy R&D talent, world-class universities, abundant natural resources—from quartz to silicon and aluminium—that are integral to solar cell and panel production,” William Samman, head of communications for Awendio Solaris, told The Energy Mix. It’s a location that “sits at the crossroads of sea and land routes,” right at the border of the company’s largest market, the U.S., which hosts most of its clients and key parts of its supply chain, he added.
Founded in 2023, the United Kingdom-based solar manufacturer says on its website it is planning the “largest solar silicon PV hub” in the U.S. and Canada, with plans to expand in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The company announced in December that it intends to invest as much as $1 billion to develop a solar cell and module manufacturing facility and research centre in East Montreal, with a specific location still to be determined. The planned facility would make solar cells and assemble panels, and would be capable of delivering up to 2,500 megawatts of production capacity in its first phase. Awendio Solaris plans to scale that capacity to 5,000 megawatts.
“It’s massive,” Awendio Solaris CEO Marc Deschamps told the Financial Times. “It is the equivalent of 20 Maersk containers full of panels, flat-pack panels, coming out every day.”
The company says its panels will use n-TOPCon technology or “Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact,” which can reduce electrical losses and boost light absorption, according to Solar N Plus. Other solar developers in Canada and the U.S. are already using n-TOPCon technology.
The facility would primarily serve the U.S. market, but Canada as well, with an “end-to-end” supply chain across North America. Awendio Solaris says the facility would take advantage of Quebec’s natural resources—like quartz, metallurgical silicon, and green aluminium—convert the materials to polysilicon and wafers in Michigan, and manufacture cells and assemble modules in Montreal. The location will also allow it to use relatively low-cost hydroelectricity from the grid operated by Hydro-Québec.
Samman told The Mix that both the federal and provincial governments have been supportive of the plans. He said Awendio Solaris is developing the project alongside the Naskapi Nation, Wendat Nation, and Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawà:ke as investor-partners.
Awendio Solaris says it envisions a highly automated facility that uses advanced robotic assembly lines and artificial intelligence systems. It aims to create around 1,000 manufacturing and R&D jobs.