LG Energy Solution to build new battery plants in Arizona

LG Energy Solution Ltd has announced that it will invest KRW7.2 trillion (US$5.5 billion) to construct a factory complex in Queen Creek, Arizona to develop batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems. The complex will have a cylindrical EV battery plant with a capacity of 27 GWh per year, a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pouch-type battery plant with a capacity of 16 GWh, and will respond to growing demand for domestically produced EV batteries and storage batteries.

The cylindrical EV battery plant, costing KRW4.2 trillion (US$3.2 billion), will be the larger of the two facilities and is expected to roll the batteries off the production line in 2025. Meanwhile, the LFP pouch-type battery plant will start operating in 2026. Both facilities will be constructed in 2023.

LG Energy Solutions' investment is the largest project by a South Korean company in the US and sees the company quadruple the amount of its earlier plan to build a cylindrical EV battery plant at the same site. The investment comes as the company moves to take advantage of attracting tax credits offered by the Inflation Reduction Act.