LG Energy Solutions Electric Vehicle Battery Factory in Michigan, USA. Provided by LG Energy Solution = Yonhap News
LG Energy Solutions will invest 5 trillion won or more in the US by 2025. It also plans to create at least two new factories in the United States to create new jobs for 4,000 people.
On the 12th, LG Energy Solutions announced that it will invest more than 5 trillion won by building two or more battery production plants independently in the United States by 2025. It also decided to invest in the second plant, a joint venture with General Motors (GM), in the first half of the year.
LG Energy Solutions announced that it will produce a 70 gigawatt hour (GWh) battery with this investment. LG has not specifically confirmed where to build a new factory in the US, but said it will select a site within the first half of the year.
LG Energy Solutions plans to secure an additional battery production capacity of 70GWh or more independently in the US by investing more than 5 trillion won by 2025.
When the investment is made, in addition to the existing Michigan plant (5GWh), it will have a total production capacity of 75GWh in the United States.
In particular, LG Energy Solutions decided to build a cylindrical battery factory for electric vehicles that is growing rapidly in the United States. Currently, LG Energy Solutions’ cylindrical battery factories are only in Korea and China.
LG plans to make full-fledged investments after selecting at least two candidate sites in the US by the first half of the year. The candidate site is undecided, and starting with the announcement of this investment plan, we will start searching for a site.
LG Energy Solution Pouch Battery. Provided by LG Energy Solution = Yonhap News
Since the second half of last year, LG Energy Solutions has been promoting the’Green Field Project’ in which companies self-secured sites and built factories to actively contribute to the Green New Deal and eco-friendly policies in the United States.
This is because global automakers review local production in the U.S., and LG Energy Solutions needs to quickly secure battery production capacity while discussing expansion of U.S. business with several automakers.
The company predicted that if additional 70GWh production capacity is secured through this investment, it will be possible to create more than 10,000 new jobs, including 4,000 direct employees and 6,000 employees during the construction of the factory.
The number of direct US employees will reach 6500, with 1,400 existing Michigan factories and 1,100 GM joint ventures in Ohio combined.
Ultium Cells, an electric vehicle battery joint venture established by LG Energy and GM in Ohio, USA. Provided by LG Energy Solution = Yonhap News
Additional investment in the joint plant with GM is expected to determine the specific scale and site in the first half of the year. Currently, GM and Ohio are constructing the first plant, Ultium Cells, with a scale of 35GWh, and the second plant is expected to be similar to that of the first plant. The site for the second plant has not yet been confirmed, but some foreign media reported that it will be established in Tennessee.
If LG Energy Solutions has both the 1st and 2nd plants in joint ventures with GM, it will have a total production capacity of 140GWh or more in the United States in addition to its own production capacity of 75GWh by 2025.
In addition, LG Energy Solutions announced that it has already received significant orders for electric vehicles released in the US by European automakers as well as the US, and is actively discussing to expand large-scale projects in the US.
In addition, while mass production of electric vehicles by US startups using LG Energy Solution batteries continues, it is reported that they have secured significant orders for US ESS companies.
President Kim Jong-Hyun said, “We will contribute to the success of the Green New Deal policy as the best partner in the US electric vehicle and ESS market by securing battery production capacity in advance and establishing a stable supply chain system from R&D to production.”
Reporter Lee Ji-young [email protected]
