SK Innovation announced plans Tuesday to build a factory dedicated to building electric vehicle batteries outside of Commerce City in Jackson County, Ga., with an initial investment of $1.67 billion.
The company will seek to begin mass production in 2022.
SK Innovations facility will be the company’s first electric battery factory in the United States, boasting an annual capacity of 9.5 gigawatt hours (GWh). The facility will be located on 283 acres inside Commerce’s industrial complex and provide 2,000 jobs by 2025.
“Today’s groundbreaking marks an important step in SK Innovation’s blossoming partnership with the U.S., the state of Georgia and global automakers throughout the region whose collective confidence in our technology helped spur this investment,” Jae-won Chey, SK Group executive vice chairman, said. “I have no doubt that today’s ceremony will go down in history as the beginning of a brand new chapter in global car development.”
The opening ceremony was attended by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who both praised the effort’s innovation and job creation.
“SK Innovation’s plant represents one of the largest single investments in a job creating initiative in Georgia’s history,” Kemp said.
The effects of the factory will also be felt well beyond Georgia’s borders. Battery cells made there will be supplied to automakers throughout the United States. SK already has a presence in South Korea, Hungary, and China, though its production capabilities are presently based in South Korea. With the completion of this plant, as well as facilities in Hungary and China, it expects to grow its annual production of EV batteries from 4.7 GWh to 60 GWh.