Ebon Solar abandons Los Lunas factory project, leaving local setback

Ebon Solar has walked away from its promised $942 million solar cell factory in Albuquerque, ending plans for an 834,000-square-foot plant and more than 900 jobs that state and local leaders had sold as a major manufacturing win.

The project was announced in August 2024 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and pitched as a centerpiece for advanced manufacturing in the Albuquerque area. Bernalillo County later put the job count at 911, and county officials approved up to $942 million in industrial revenue bonds in September 2024. Ebon Solar also sought $11 million in LEDA funding from the City of Albuquerque, with the city acting as fiscal agent for state funds. The Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance helped with the site-selection process.

The company’s decision to abandon the factory has now turned those promises into a regional setback. Reporting in May 2026 tied the collapse to federal CFIUS-related concerns, adding another layer of scrutiny because Ebon Solar’s parent, Ebang International Holdings, is China-based. What had been framed as a high-paying job creation deal now leaves the region without the plant, the payroll or the supplier spending that officials had expected to feed into the local economy.

For Valencia County, the loss matters because Los Lunas and its partners have spent years marketing the area as a fast-growing, pro-development community with direct access to I-25 and room for commercial expansion. A 2024 community overview said county jobs rose from 17,964 in 2018 to 20,092 in 2023, while a March 2024 overview said the population grew 2.7% over the same period. Local leaders have also pushed major infrastructure projects, including the Los Lunas Boulevard Corridor Project and a new I-25 interchange, to open more land to development.

That makes the Ebon Solar collapse more than a single corporate reversal. It undercuts the broader pitch that Valencia County can keep landing industrial projects large enough to justify road work, interchange upgrades and public incentives. Bernalillo County had already signed off on the bond package, and Ebon Solar had sought state-backed LEDA money, but the promised factory, jobs and tax-base growth will not materialize now.