Building the factory behind the energy transition

The US is building clean energy capacity at a pace that would have felt unlikely a few years ago.

Beyond wind farms, substations, transmission upgrades and grid hardening, the manufacturing base powering the transition is rapidly expanding, with solar right at the center of it all.

That matters for engineers because this is where strategy turns physical. A policy target is one thing. A facility that can produce solar cells at scale is another. The work is visible, fast-moving, and unforgiving. Schedules matter. Interfaces matter. Data matters. If one part of the machine lags, the whole program feels it.

For an engineer who isn’t actively looking, this is the kind of shift worth paying attention to. Not because it’s fashionable. Because it changes where some of the most consequential work is happening.

Inside the Hanwha Qcells project in Georgia

In Cartersville, Georgia, Hanwha Qcells is expanding its manufacturing footprint through a $2.5 billion investment and the construction of several complex new facilities to build and assemble solar cells. Qcells, a division of Hanwha Solutions, produces solar modules for residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The aim: raise solar cell production capacity to 8.4 gigawatts.

That kind of expansion doesn’t run on ambition alone.

AtkinsRéalis supported management of the investment by providing cost and schedule management services alongside a Project Management Information System. In practice, that means building the digital backbone that helps a major industrial program move with control instead of guesswork.

The system was rapidly deployed using Oracle Unifier for cost controls and change management, integrated with the Advanced Analytics Control Center for visualization, with a BIM360 workspace for managing documents like daily reports and design reviews.

Our team created a live environment where progress can be seen in real time, monthly performance can be compared against plan, change orders and invoices move directly through the system, and approvals or delays are easier to spot before they become expensive problems. AtkinsRéalis also ran in-house training for the Qcells team and the general contractor, and continues to support the configuration, maintenance, and management of the tech stack through the life of the project.

Why this feels different from typical power work

A lot of power and energy engineering is about maintaining, upgrading, or extending systems people already depend on.

This is different.

Here, you’re helping stand up the manufacturing infrastructure behind the transition itself. Not the wires that move electricity. Not the assets that restore service after failure. The factory that helps make the next wave of energy buildout possible.

This fast-paced industrial environment creates a different kind of intensity. The consequences of poor information flow show up quickly: a missed approval, an outdated document, a change that isn’t tracked cleanly. Any of it can ripple through cost, schedule, and construction.

Part of a bigger US Power & Energy story

The Hanwha Qcells project is one part of a broader picture.

In Puerto Rico, AtkinsRéalis is supporting LUMA on a major grid hardening program, permanently improving transmission and distribution infrastructure for an island that knows what grid failure costs. In the northeastern US, a multi-year Master Service Agreement with Avangrid Networks covers PMO and Owner’s Engineering services across four utilities.

Manufacturing. Transmission. Distribution. Utility program delivery. The transition isn’t only being connected, strengthened, and managed. It’s being built from the factory floor up.

Explore our Power & Energy roles in the US and join the team that’s building what lasts.