$358 million in state and local incentives to FREYR Battery, a Norwegian developer of battery cell production capacity. FREYR said in November it plans to invest $2.57 billion at a manufacturing facility outside of Atlanta, creating 723 new jobs over the next seven years. The state provided $228 million in property tax breaks over 20 years.
Engineering professorTimothy Lieuwen, executive director of Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute, said incentives signal to companies that Georgia has prioritized renewable energy jobs. But, he said, companies also value factors such as a skilled workforce and transportation hubs. "This is not a race to the bottom, where whoever gives out the biggest tax breaks gets the company," he said."There’s a much broader ecosystem that companies like this are looking for."
Georgia has succeeded in landing renewable energy jobs because for 10 years, it has made those jobs a priority by taking actions such as working with its technical college system to encourage research helpful to such companies and to offer programs that train workers, Lieuwen said.