Dive Brief:
- LG Energy Solution plans to invest $5.5 billion to build a battery complex in Queen Creek, Arizona, according to a March 24 press release.
- The complex will consist of two battery facilities, one to manufacture cylindrical EV batteries and another to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for energy storage systems.
- Production at the cylindrical EV battery plant is slated to begin in 2025, while the second site is expected to open in 2026.
Dive Insight:
This is LG Energy Solution’s second investment in Queen Creek, which expands on its $1.4 billion investment made last year for its first cylindrical battery plant in the U.S.
Of the newly announced $5.5 billion, $3.2 will go toward the cylindrical battery manufacturing facility, which would have a capacity of 27 gigawatt-hours a year.
The remaining $2.3 billion will go toward the LFP battery facility, with a capacity of 16 gigawatt-hours annually.
LG Energy Solution’s initial investment in the Queen Creek cylindrical battery plant originally would have produced 11 gigawatt-hours annually and was expected to come online next year, according to last year’s announcement.
The investments are part of a larger growth plan LG Energy Solution has for the U.S. market. In January, the company signed a deal with Hanwha Group to build battery production facilities in the U.S. The two companies will also collaborate on energy storage systems for commercial, industrial and utility markets.
LG Energy Solution is one of multiple foreign manufacturers setting up shop in Arizona. TSMC announced in December that it had begun construction on its second fab facility in Arizona, which is set to start production in 2026. The company expects to invest approximately $40 bilion on the two Arizona sites.
LG’s host of associated companies are also investing in battery plants across the country. In November, LG Chem announced it was building a $3.2 billion cathode manufacturing facility in Clarksville, Tennessee.
