SK Innovation has broken ground on a US$1.1 billion electric vehicle batteries production plant in the US state of Georgia.
The South Korean group said the plant would have an annual production capacity of around 60 gigawatt-hours of lithium-ion batteries annually by 2022— when full production is slated to start.
SK Group vice-chairman Choi Jae-Won said the facility— being built on a 278-acre site in Commerce City— would be completed in the second half of 2021 and help to strengthen Korean-US economic cooperation.
The company’s investment in the project is being made through its SK Battery America subsidiary.
US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said South Korean firms have invested $51bn in projects in the US to date, and support nearly 52,000 jobs in the country.
Ross said: “The automobile industry might be a mature market, but that is not the case for electric vehicles… SK is helping the US become a more competitive force in this fast-growing market.”
BEST Battery Briefing reported last February that SK Innovation and California-based PolyPlus had agreed to jointly develop “the first rechargeable lithium metal battery with a conductive glass separator”.
