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LG Energy Solution’s $5.5B battery manufacturing complex in Arizona is well underway

April 10, 2024

LG Energy Solution is progressing with the $5.5 billion construction of its battery manufacturing factory in Queen Creek, Arizona, expecting completion in two years.

The plant site will have two facilities, one for EV batteries and another for ESS batteries.

The cylindrical battery plant, named LG Energy Solution Arizona, will produce 46-Series batteries for EVs. The company plans to begin mass production of these batteries at its Ochang plant in Korea in the second half of this year.

The ESS battery manufacturing facility, named LG Energy Solution Arizona ESS, will produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pouch-type batteries for ESS. When fully operational, the complex’s average annual production capacity is expected to reach 53GWh (cylindrical batteries 36GWh, LFP ESS batteries 17GWh).

The Queen Creek LG complex is located along the State Route 24 corridor in the town’s northern tier, at Ironwood and Pecos roads. The company provided progress updates on the facility during a stakeholder meeting this week at Combs High School in San Tan Valley. Attendees included representatives from LG Energy Solution, the Arizona Commerce Authority, and local government officials.

The company expects to begin hiring for the new facility in the second half of 2025. Once the construction is complete, both facilities are expected to start production in 2026. The company will also commit to hiring and fostering the next-generation battery professionals in the area, creating several thousand new quality jobs.

LG Energy Solution has another standalone facility in Michigan, which was built a decade ago and is currently undergoing an 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.

“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 Ra. “Of many other sites, this Arizona facility has a special meaning to us. This is the second standalone facility to be built in the U.S. And it is also the first manufacturing facility to produce cylindrical batteries in the U.S. Right here is where we can build quality cylindrical batteries, which will be used to power millions of EVs,” added Brian Oh, head of the Mobility and IT Battery Division at LG Energy Solution.