A real estate investment group intends to take the site of an unfinished nuclear plant and turn it into a advanced manufacturing campus anchored by Highland Materials, a new polysilicon manufacturer.
Approximately 140 acres at the former Phipps Bend Nuclear Plant in Hawkins County, Tennessee, is planned to become a “high-power, heavy infrastructure destination.” The site already has a TVA-owned regional transmission interconnect and a 1-MW solar project that was completed in 2017.
An unfinished nuclear reactor at Phipps Bend, with the solar array behind.
“We are honored to be investing behind the growth of Northeast Tennessee at such a unique site at Phipps Bend. This campus combines striking mission critical infrastructure, a rare high-voltage interconnect and a permitting environment shaped by its nuclear legacy – all within a region eager to welcome transformational capital investment,” said David Robbins, Managing Partner of Pivotal Manufacturing Partners. “We are proud to be partnering with Highland Materials to advance their planned facility and look forward to continuing to work with all of our local partners as Phipps Bend emerges as a premier destination for this next generation high-power industrial renaissance.”
Originally developed by the TVA in the late 1970s as a nuclear power facility, the Phipps Bend site saw over $2.6 billion in federal investment before the project was canceled in the early 1980s prior to completion after the Three Mile Island incident. While no reactors were ever brought online, the site retains a powerful legacy: significant utility infrastructure, a strategic location within the TVA transmission network and a regional development mindset rooted in energy-intensive industry.
Highland Materials has been rumored to site its brand-new polysilicon product plant at the Phipps Bend site for at least the last year. The company was allocated $255.6 million in Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credits (48C) from the Inflation Reduction Act last year. It was then stated that it would initially produce 16,000 metric tons annually of solar-grade polysilicon before expanding to 20,000 metric tons — or the equivalent of 11 GW of solar cells annually.
“Partnering with Pivotal Manufacturing Partners is a critical step needed to move the Highland polysilicon manufacturing facility forward at Phipps Bend,” said Richard Rast, CEO of Highland Materials. “We are excited about the market opportunity, the job creation, the capital investment, and the continued community and state level support this project enjoys.”
Pivotal and Highland are working closely with local, regional, and federal stakeholders — including Hawkins County, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Holston Electric Cooperative and the State of Tennessee — to deliver infrastructure, incentives, and economic development to support both near-term and long-term phases of the campus.
