Danish manufacturer eyes Tri-Cities for contracting talent as it preps $175M Wallula plant
A Danish insulation manufacturer is getting ready to build its $175 million plant at Wallula Gap and inviting prospective local contractors to information sessions in Pasco this week.
The project promises to deliver one of the region’s largest manufacturing plants when it’s fully built. The massive plant will transform rock from area quarries into green insulation by crushing it, melting it and spinning it like cotton candy.
The plant near the Tri-Cities will be its fifth in North America and will serve as a launch pad for its West Coast expansion plans.
Rockwool Group and its project manager, PCL Construction, plan to meet with companies interested in participating in the project at 5 p.m., March 27, and 10 a.m., April 3, at the Courtyard by Marriott next to the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco.
.png "Wallula Rendering (1).png")
Rockwool and PCL also will meet one-on-one with prospective partners as it begins awarding contracts in April.
The site is a 250-acre parcel in Wallula Gap Business Park, about 10 miles east of Pasco in western Walla Walla County.
Roxul USA Inc., aka Rockwool, bought the land for $8.75 million from the Port of Walla Walla in 2024. It is the first in a series of big developments that promise to transform the area into a hub for manufacturing and jobs.
Collectively, the port has deals expected to yield $8.6 billion in investment at Wallula Gap. Rockwool’s future neighbors include SkyNRG, a sustainable fuel manufacture, Advance Phase LLC, a data center operator, and a battery manufacturer known by its code name, Project Energy Force.
$4B manufacturer
Rockwool Group is a $4 billion manufacturer with a U.S. base in Kearneyville, W.Va.
The plant near Pasco will be built in phases, according to extensive documents filed for review under Washington’s environmental protection act review process, or SEPA.
The $175 million first phase begins with grading 112 acres this spring, followed by physical construction this fall. It’s to begin operations by 2028.
It will employ 125 workers, with an annual payroll of $8.5 million, to start. At full building, it will have 2.7 million square feet. That would be enough to contain both of the warehouses Amazon recently built in east Pasco, with enough room to accommodate Sageview High School, now under construction in north Pasco.
The Boeing Co.’s 4.3 million-square-foot airplane plant (formerly its 747 facility) in Everett is the largest.
Green building materials
Rockwool produces stone-based insulation that it claims offsets 100 times the carbon released during the manufacturing process.
The spun lava-like material is pressed into insulation, which contractors embed in walls, attics, under floors and elsewhere in both commercial and residential structures. Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle incorporates Rockwool insulation.
At the end of its 65-year lifespan, the rock-based insulation can be remelted and spun into new products.
Pacific Power will provide about 221,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year. Rockwool has said its power supply will be 80% renewable by 2030 and 100% by 2040, as required under Washington’s Clean Energy Act.
Cascade Natural Gas will supply gas.
The state Department of Commerce supported Wallula Gap Business Park with a share of a $2.5 million grant meant to attract and expand manufacturing.
The Port of Walla Walla created the 1,900-plus acre Wallula Gap Business Park to attract clean energy and manufacturing.
Go to rockwool.com/Wallula.
Would-be subcontractors must agree to nondisclosure agreements before meeting one-on-one with Rockwool and PCL. Contact Dan Johnson, 425-519-7378 or dvjohnson@pcl.com for information.
This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM.