Officials broke ground April 25 in south Augusta on the largest electric vehicle battery material facility in North America.
Syensqo’s PVDF production facility will create 500 construction jobs, 100 highly skilled jobs and the potential for more than 500 indirect jobs according to a news release from the office of Mayor Garnett Johnson. The plant represents a more than $178 million investment by the Department of Energy and a supply chain investment of over $850 million.
“I am thrilled that Syensqo chose Augusta-Richmond County to build North America’s biggest factory producing electric vehicle materials,” said Johnson in the release. “My administration is pleased to be working collaboratively with Syensqo as part of the Biden-Harris Administration Workforce Hub City Initiative.”
Previously part of the Solvay Group, Syensqo has been located in Augusta for more than two decades.
“A significant milestone in Syensqo’s global electrification strategy, this facility will help create battery materials needed to unlock economy-wide electrification and electric vehicle (EV) adoption. PVDF is a thermoplastic fluoropolymer that is used as a lithium-ion binder and separator coating in batteries,” according to the Synesqo website.
The plant will produce “Solef, Syensqo’s signature PVDF product, which enables EVs to go farther on each charge, extends battery life and improves battery safety,” it said.
The new facility is forecast to produce enough PVDF for more than five million EV batteries per year at full capacity, or 45% of expected PVDF demand required by 2030, creating a new and reliable supply for the rapidly growing U.S. EV battery market, as well as hundreds of jobs throughout the value chain, the website continued.
Johnson heralded the creation of jobs in the area with the plant construction.
“I am excited about this expansion and the addition of quality jobs by a company that will serve the community for years to come. Thank you to all our partners for helping to make this a reality, “ said Johnson.
Joining Johnson and Syensqo officials was Tom Perez, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
“Augusta-Richmond County remains invested in bringing new industry to the area as well as expanding existing industries. The City of Augusta and the Augusta Economic Development Authority has worked to invest millions of dollars in tax savings on this project,” said Johnson. “I look forward to continuing to share the great work that we’ve done and that we will continue to do and am excited to officially break ground on this facility.”
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