JinkoSolar (U.S.) Industries won city approval Thursday to build-out the solar panel plant it is setting up in AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center.
The city Building Inspection Division issued a permit for Hoffman Commercial Construction LLC for the $13.85 million project for interior construction and plant renovation.
JinkoSolar agreed to open a 200-job, $50 million plant at AllianceFlorida with the support of city and state incentives. The jobs, which will pay an average annual $45,562, must be created by the end of 2019.
The solar panel manufacturer will lease 285,652 square feet in the 407,435-square-foot building at 4660 POW-MIA Memorial Parkway. E-commerce furniture distributor Industry West will occupy the rest.
The JinkoSolar space includes manufacturing, warehouse, research and development along with room for other functions. Architectural and engineering firm Woolpert Inc. of Fairview Heights, Illinois, is the project designer.
Work already was underway toward the build-out. In July, JinkoSolar applied to the city for interior structural work at a job cost of $2 million. KBM Builders Inc. is the contractor listed for that build-out.
On July 18, the city approved the $150,000 construction by KBM Builders of a tenant separation wall to divide the building for JinkoSolar and Industry West, which will lease 121,783 square feet.
The city is reviewing a permit application for a $305,000 installation of IT racks and other electrical equipment for JinkoSolar.
JinkoSolar is part of Shanghai, China-based JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd.
Financial support comprises city tax incentives of $3.4 million, consisting of a $3.2 million Recapture Enhanced Value grant to be paid over 10 years and a $200,000 Qualified Target Industry tax refund for JinkoSolar to be repaid over five years.
The state will pay the remaining $800,000 of the total $1 million QTI refund.
The company had been targeting an opening by October.
JinkoSolar’s first major customer was announced in March.
Juno Beach-based NextEra Energy said in a news release that it is the counterparty to a supply agreement that was announced by JinkoSolar in January. Florida Power & Light Co. is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy.
Under the agreement, JinkoSolar will supply NextEra Energy with up to 2,750 megawatts of high-efficiency solar modules – roughly 7 million – over about four years.