T1 Energy Inc., formerly Freyr Battery Inc., will open an $850 million solar cell manufacturing facility in Milam County, just outside Round Rock. The plant, called G2 Austin, will create up to 1,800 jobs.

T1 executed a lease-and-purchase option for 100 acres at the 3,300-acre Advanced Manufacturing Logistix Campus (AMLC), which used to be the campus site for the Alcoa aluminum smelter plant.

G2 Austin is expected to start production in the second half of 2026. T1 boasts that G2 Austin will be one of the largest solar manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

Xebec, which is developing the 33,000-acre site, purchased it in 2021. The land stretches across Milam and Lee counties and is located about 15 miles east of Taylor, where Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is building a multibillion-dollar computer chip factory. A natural gas power plant is also being constructed on-site.

JLL’s Ace Schlameus is leading a team handling industrial leasing for AMLC on behalf of Xebec.