Canadian Premium Sand (CPS) plans to establish a solar glass manufacturing facility in the US.

CPS customers in the US have expressed a desire for domestic solar glass supply.

The implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the US has resulted in strong growth in solar installations and onshoring efforts within the solar supply-chain.

As a result, solar panel manufacturing capacity is expected to increase from 12GW in 2022 to 52GW by the end of 2025.

The US facility will be in addition to the company’s low-carbon supply of solar glass from its manufacturing facility in Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada.

The company is planning to re-purpose a former glass manufacturing facility in the US to produce 4GW per year of solar glass.

It is currently in discussions with a potential glass manufacturing partner to develop this site.

The partner would bring glass manufacturing expertise, purchasing power for equipment, as well as raw materials and in-house engineering capability.

With both facilities providing a total of 10GW of solar glass combined, the company is preparing to become one of the largest suppliers of patterned solar glass.

Glenn Leroux, President & CEO of CPS, said: “Establishing 10GW supply of both low-carbon and US manufactured ultra clear pattern solar glass aligns CPS with the supply chain goals of our North American customers.

“Alignment with a strategic glass manufacturing partner supports the execution of our North American strategy and vision.”

CPS has established a wholly owned US subsidiary, CPS Glass USA, and has applied for the US Department of Energy’s investment tax credit.

The allocation decision for this application is expected in Q1 2025.

For the Selkirk Project, CPS has applied for a $100 million in non-dilutive financial support and is now entering the due diligence phase.

This is to the advance the $272 million indications of support announced on September 18.

The company is working on formalising elements of the $72 million financial support from the Province of Manitoba.

It has also held discussions with Manitoba based indigenous groups related to their participation in the Selkirk Project of $100 million utilising the federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program.