ARIZONA NEWS
LG Energy Solution boosts Queen Creek battery factory investment to $5.5 billion
Mar 24, 2023, 11:21 AM
(LG Energy Solution)
(LG Energy Solution)
PHOENIX — LG Energy Solution announced Friday that its investment in a new battery factory in Queen Creek will be $5.5 billion, nearly four times more than initially planned.
The Korean company said it’s the largest single investment ever in a standalone battery manufacturing facility in North America.
Construction is set to begin in 2023. The Pinal County complex will consist of two manufacturing plants.
The first, costing $3.2 billion, will makes cylindrical batteries for electric vehicles starting in 2025. The other, with a $2.3 billion investment, will produce lithium iron phosphate pouch-type batteries for energy storage systems starting in 2026.
“Our decision to invest in Arizona demonstrates our strategic initiative to continue expanding our global production network, which is already the largest in the world, to further advance our innovative and top-quality products in scale and with speed,” Youngsoo Kwon, CEO of LG Energy Solution, said in a press release.
“We believe it’s the right move at the right time in order to empower clean energy transition in the U.S.”
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When the project was first announced in April 2022, LG Energy Solution said it was committing $1.4 billion. The company cited electric vehicle incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Joe Biden in August as a reason to boost the investment.
Gov. Katie Hobbs said the facility will make Arizona “the battery manufacturing capital of the country.”
“These Arizona-made batteries will power green, sustainable technologies around the world, cementing Arizona’s reputation as an innovation hub for renewable energy,” she said in the release. “We’re grateful to LGES for their legacy investment and for committing to making thousands of good-paying jobs for Arizonans.”
