Construction begins on LG Energy Solution’s 53-GWh battery factory in Arizona

Construction has begun on the LG Energy Solution battery manufacturing complex in Arizona first announced last year. Construction on the two factories making batteries for EVs and stand-alone energy storage systems should be completed in two years. LG is spending $5.5 billion on the construction.

The two manufacturing facilities are the company’s first stand-alone cylindrical and ESS battery plants in North America. The cylindrical battery plant, called LG Energy Solution Arizona, will produce 46-Series batteries for EVs. As the company plans the first mass production of 46-Series batteries at its Ochang plant in Korea in the second half of this year, LG Energy Solution Arizona is expected to continue the momentum and reinforce the manufacturing capability.

The ESS battery manufacturing facility, called LG Energy Solution Arizona ESS, will produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pouch-type batteries for ESS. By situating its stand-alone ESS battery facility in North America, the world’s biggest ESS market, LG Energy Solution aims for a timely response to the fast-growing needs for locally manufactured batteries on the back of the U.S. clean energy policies.

When fully operational, the complex’s average annual production capacity is expected to reach 53 GWh (cylindrical batteries 36 GWh, LFP ESS batteries 17 GWh).

Groundbreaking on the project happened last November, with initial land preparations completed and steel beams now being placed at the site. With the construction going as planned, the manufacturing facility for cylindrical EV batteries is expected to be completed in late 2025, and the facility for LFP pouch-type ESS batteries in the following year.

Once the construction is complete, both facilities are expected to start production in 2026. To secure high-quality workforce that will operate the  manufacturing complex, the company will also commit to hiring and fostering the next-generation battery professionals in the area, creating several thousand new quality jobs. “We expect the recruitment of our [launch team] members to begin late this year, and a full-scale recruitment to follow from the second half of 2025,” said Richard Ra, President of LG Energy Solution Arizona.

“ESS plays a vital role in green energy infrastructure as it utilizes power supply in a flexible manner,” said Hyung Kim, Head of ESS Battery Division. “There is no better place to build the source of our sustainable energy here in Arizona, where the abundant solar energy surrounds the region. Quality batteries, made right here in the Copper State, will reach every corner of America to provide power.”

LG Energy Solution has another stand-alone facility in Michigan, which was built a decade ago and is currently undergoing expansion that would quintuple its average annual production capacity. The company also has five other joint venture facilities in the U.S. with major automakers, including General Motors, Honda, and Hyundai Motors Group, representing its full-fledged efforts to provide IRA-compliant batteries that will expedite the clean energy transition in the country.

News item from LG ES