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Battery maker to invest $500M in Buckeye manufacturing facility

KorePower looks to bring in 3,000 jobs for plant

Posted 7/29/21

Buckeye has landed a major battery manufacturing facility that could produce up to 3,000 jobs for the region and hundreds of millions in investment.

Idaho-based Kore Power Inc. announced its first …

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Business

Battery maker to invest $500M in Buckeye manufacturing facility

KorePower looks to bring in 3,000 jobs for plant

Posted

Buckeye has landed a major battery manufacturing facility that could produce up to 3,000 jobs for the region and hundreds of millions in investment.

Idaho-based Kore Power Inc. announced its first lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility will be built in the West Valley suburb. The 1 million-square-foot facility, dubbed the KorePlex, will cost about $500 million and be capable of producing 12 gigawatt-hours of battery cell production, enough to power for 3.2 million homes annually.

Construction will start by the end of this year with the facility expected to begin production in second-quarter 2023. The plant will be located at Baseline Road and State Route 85.

“We needed a location for our factory that had a track record of supporting energy storage, a growing clean transportation sector, and a workforce that could deliver American-made battery technology that the supply chain so desperately needs,” said Lindsay Gorrill, KORE Power CEO, in a statement. “Arizona hit a home run. We’re fully committed to be a cornerstone of the state’s clean economy and we’re proud to bring advanced cell manufacturing home to the U.S.”

Founded in 2018, Kore Power is a battery cell developer for energy storage and electric transportation industries. Until this new facility is built, the company has been using a contract manufacturer and produced 10 million battery cells to date.

The new facility will to what the company already is producing, roughly 2 GWh of battery cells on its way to 6 GWh.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey in a statement said the facility will help position Arizona as a base for global battery manufacturing supply chain.

The facility would become a major employer in Buckeye, and local officials are pleased to have landed the facility after a national site search.

“Kore Power’s investment in Buckeye to produce clean, renewable energy aligns with the City Council’s sustainability goals, and our goal for significant employment opportunities for our residents,” said Buckeye Mayor Eric Orsborn in a statement. “This project is not just a win for Buckeye, but for the West Valley, the State of Arizona and the clean energy industry.”

The decision by Kore Power is one of an increasing number in the tech sector for the West Valley. While the region initially tried to get into the solar industry more than a decade ago, during the past two years the region has seen Microsoft Corp. data centers locating in Goodyear and El Mirage and a massive Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. site coming online in north Phoenix.

Other West Valley sites have been in play for advanced manufacturing, particularly along the Loop 303 corridor.

The state had been in the running for Tesla's Gigafactory battery production facility before the company opted to build it in Nevada.