Tulsa International Airport officials are working to finalize a deal with a Norwegian solar energy company to construct on airport property a $500 million manufacturing facility that would employ approximately 300 people.
Spencer Mitchell, director of economic incentives for Partner Tulsa, the city’s economic development arm, told city councilors on Wednesday that NorSun OK LLC would produce mono-crystalline silicon ingots and wafers for the global solar energy industry.
“They’re essentially the things that capture light within solar panels,” Mitchell said.
The manufacturing facility would be the company’s first investment in the United States, Mitchell said, and would create jobs with average annual wages of $62,000.
“We’ve been working with them for about a month or two,” Mitchell said. “We’re expecting a decision over the course of the next month. Hopefully, the next few weeks.”
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Mitchell noted that the NorSun project comes on the heels of last year’s announcement by the Italian company Enel North America that it plans to invest $1 billion to build a solar cell and manufacturing plant at the Port of Inola.
“So we’re very excited about this project,” Mitchell said.
Airport officials have been working to land the project for about a year. In March, the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust approved an agreement with NorSun granting the company early access to proposed lease property east of Mingo Road and west of U.S. 169 “for the purpose of its due diligence.”
“We are excited to support such an impactful economic development project such as the one being proposed by NorSun,” said Daniel Regan, director of real estate and development at Tulsa Airports. “This facility would be the largest single private investment in airport history and continues a trend of infill development around Tulsa International Airport — one of the most important economic drivers for our region.”
Mitchell told councilors that NorSun is in negotiations with the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust to finalize the lease agreement and that the trust “has also authorized a tax increment incentive for the company.”
Mayor G.T. Bynum said he was grateful for NorSun’s interest in investing in the community.
“I want to…
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