OCI Solar Power Relocates HQs, Manufacturing Facility to Alamo City

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

San Antonio has struck big: Atlanta-based OCI Solar Power will relocate its corporate headquarters and U.S. manufacturing operations to the Texas city.

For the San Antonio community this means 800 professional and technical jobs, while the municipality gains an annual payroll of nearly $40 million, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. Moreover, OCI is expected to spend more than $1 million on construction work in the city.

The relocation decision comes after CPS Energy agreed to purchase 400 megawatts of solar power from OCI Solar Power over the next 25 years, making it one of the largest solar-power development projects in the country, according to an OCI news release. The news release also states that construction on the first solar facility will begin in 2013, with additional facilities built through 2016, subject to Power Purchase Agreement negotiations.

The San Antonio Business Journal reported that the solar project is expected to have an annual economic impact of $700 million. The 400 megawatts of energy generated will power the equivalent of 90,000 homes during daylight hours.

OCI Solar Power is a division of Korean conglomerate OCI, formed one year ago with the absorption of Chicago-based Cornerstone Power Development. The company has 20 projects in the United States and Canada, totaling 150 megawatts, according to Renewable Energy World. Therefore, this 400-megawatt project will almost triple its energy production throughout North America.

CPS Energy is the largest municipally owned energy company in the nation providing both gas and electricity. It currently serves more than 717,000 electric customers and 325,000 natural gas customers in and around the seventh-largest city in the nation.