The move is a result of a growing market and increasing demand, which necessitates increased capacity in the Americas. It is also part of the company's mission to develop sustainable solutions.

The expansion will involve adding 28,000 square feet to the Mankato facility's existing assembly hall to offer room for additional assembly lines, greater product testing capabilities and the creation of 20 new manufacturing positions.

The plan also includes upgraded production test cells and a front office administration remodeling. The R&D center will have a dedicated test cell to meet customer-testing requirements for data center applications. The three production test cells in the main facility will be upgraded to meet the same criteria for testing production units.

"By expanding one of the existing assembly lines to accommodate the production of high-power MTU gas generator sets, capacity at the plant is expected to increase by an estimated 25%. This will mark the first time these gas generator sets have been produced in the US," Rolls-Royce said.

Rolls-Royce Power Systems CEO Andreas Schell said its MTU plant has played an important role in growing the buisness within the Americas, and expanding it will help  fulfill demand with locally manufactured products.

An additional benefit to the expansion will be improved logistics services and safety enhancements to the site.

"With the added space, logistics will be separated from assembly operations, and oversized doors will be added to better facilitate lifting and rigging operations. The traffic routes and parking for the site will also be modified to separate truck traffic from employee parking," Schell said.

The new R&D center will be fully operational this month. The front office renovation was completed in December 2019 and included the addition of 21 new workstations.

The first phase of the assembly hall expansion will be completed next February, with the final phase targeted for completion in September 2021.