INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENERGY ALTERNATIVES, INC. BREAKS GROUND ON 25 MW SILICON RANCH SOLAR CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IN GEORGIA

Effort underway to hire and train local laborers and military veterans

INDIANAPOLIS, April 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. (NASDAQ: IEA) (“IEA” or the “Company”), a leading infrastructure construction company with specialized energy and heavy civil expertise, today announced that the Company has begun construction on the 25 megawatt (MW_AC) Appling Solar Farm, located near the city of Baxley, a rural community in Southeast Georgia.

Nashville-based Silicon Ranch Corporation, one of the nation’s largest independent solar power producers, selected IEA’s subsidiary, IEA Constructors LLC, as the Engineer-Procure-Construct Contractor for the project. IEA is responsible for the design, procurement, construction, commissioning and handover of the facility. Silicon Ranch is funding the installation and will own and operate the array for the long-term, consistent with all projects Silicon Ranch develops.

To construct the project, IEA will hire approximately 200 craft workers, the majority of whom will be recruited from the local labor pool in Georgia and the military veteran community. Due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, IEA will forego hosting a local job fair. Area residents interested in working on the Appling Solar Farm should apply online at IEA.net or send an email to [e-mail]. The project will hire for positions ranging from entry-level to experienced professionals, including laborers, CDL operators, welders and carpenters.

IEA will provide workers seeking utility-scale solar construction experience with on-site training in tracker assembly, wire harnessing, and module installation. Workers will assemble and install single-axis trackers that utilize NEXTracker’s TrueCapture smart control system, enabling approximately 95,000 solar modules to track the sun from east to west. The modules are produced locally by Hanwha Q CELLS at its new manufacturing facility in northeast Georgia, which is the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

Both Silicon Ranch and IEA share a commitment to safety, and IEA will follow CDC and OSHA guidance for preparing workplaces and responding to COVID-19 at the project site through social distancing, additional cleaning and monitoring standards in an effort to reduce the impact of the virus. Workers supporting the energy sector through renewable energy, including those supporting construction, have been identified as “essential” by the Department of Homeland Security. More information on critical infrastructure during COVID-19 can be found here.