Why Is SUNation Energy Stock Soaring Wednesday?

SUNation Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNE) stock jumped nearly 26% in Wednesday premarket trading. The move followed a major capital raise tied to U.S. solar manufacturing expansion.

SUNation stock is in focus after its pending merger partner, Suniva, said Tuesday it completed an $835 million capital raise to fund a major expansion of U.S. solar cell manufacturing.

Suniva raised the capital through debt and equity financing. Investors and lenders included Lion Point Capital, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, I Squared Capital, JBA Asset Management, Electron Capital Partners, Orion Infrastructure Capital and Rubric Capital Management.

Solar Capacity Set To Jump

The financing will support Suniva’s second U.S. solar cell manufacturing plant. The 4.5-gigawatt facility is under development in Laurens County, South Carolina.

Suniva expects to complete the facility in late 2027 and fully ramp production in 2028. The project will lift its total U.S. solar cell capacity to 5.5 GW.

The roughly $600 million project is also expected to create 564 advanced manufacturing jobs. The shell of the 621,468-square-foot building is already complete.

Suniva currently operates a 1 GW high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cell facility in Norcross, Georgia.

Domestic Supply Chain Supports Expansion

Suniva said its expansion benefits from an established domestic supply chain. It has also secured long-term offtake agreements covering most of its planned future production.

CEO Tony Etnyre said the additional capacity will help Suniva meet rising demand for domestically produced solar cells and strengthen the U.S. solar supply chain.

SUNation Merger Ahead

The expansion comes as Suniva prepares to combine with SUNation Energy.

Suniva announced a definitive reverse merger agreement on June 8. Under the deal, Suniva will merge with a wholly owned SUNation subsidiary.

The combined company is expected to operate under the Suniva name and retain SUNation’s Nasdaq Capital Market listing.

SUNE Stock Price Activity: SUNation Energy shares were up 25.74% at $2.98 during premarket trading on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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