The Inflation Reduction Act Is Delivering More Jobs, New Investments, And Historic Opportunities For Communities Across America
CNBC: First Solar Selects Alabama For New Factory As Inflation Reduction Act Prompts Domestic Manufacturing Boom
Financial Times: Billions Flow To Nascent US Battery Sector With Push From Climate Law
Wall Street Journal: Redwood Materials To Build Second Battery-Parts Factory In South Carolina
The historic Inflation Reduction Act passed by Senate Democrats and signed into law by President Biden is already having a huge impact nationwide, creating jobs, taking historic action to fight climate change, and generating a “domestic manufacturing boom.” In the months since the Inflation Reduction Act was enacted, we have already seen dozens of clean energy and manufacturing projects announced, investments amounting to tens of billions of dollars. According to one report, “in the last three months, over $40 billion in domestic clean energy investments have been made – an amount equal to the total investment estimated for all clean energy projects installed in 2021.” From electric vehicle manufacturing to increasing production of clean energy and all the jobs and investments created as a result, states across the country are seeing the impact of this historic legislation.
FOLLOWING PASSAGE OF THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT, AUTOMAKERS ARE BRINGING NEW AUTO MANUFACTURING FACILITIES TO THE U.S., CREATING THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF JOBS
Detroit Free Press: GM's $45M Investment In Indiana Plant Is Critical Move In EV Future. “General Motors is putting $45 million into expanding its aluminum die casting foundry in Bedford, Indiana, to feed two metro Detroit assembly plants that will produce electric vehicles that are crucial to the automaker's future. The investment at Bedford, while a small number by comparison with past investments at other GM facilities that have run into the billions, is a critical stake in the automaker's move to go to zero emissions by 2035.” [Detroit Free Press, 11/18/22]
The Current: Hyundai Breaks Ground On $5.5 Billion, 8,100-Job Factory In North Bryan County. “Hyundai Motor Group officially broke ground Tuesday on its planned $5.5 billion electric vehicle factory in Bryan County, poised to become the largest economic development project in Georgia history and the South Korean automaker’s first fully dedicated facility for EV manufacturing. ‘We heard the clarion call of this administration to hasten the adoption of new electric vehicles and reduce carbon emissions — so, we took action,’ said Hyundai global president and chief operating officer José Muñoz. Dubbed by Hyundai as the ‘Metaplant,’ the company says it will create more than 8,100 jobs in Bryan County, just west of Savannah.” [The Current, 10/25/22]
AP: BMW Investing $1.7B In S Carolina As Automaker Shifts To Evs. “BMW will invest $1 billion in its sprawling factory near Spartanburg, South Carolina, to start building electric vehicles and an additional $700 million to build a electric-battery plant nearby.”... “A new U.S. law, the Inflation Reduction Act, gives them even more incentive to build batteries in North America.” [AP, 10/19/22]
Reuters: Hyundai To Break Ground On $5.5 Billion Georgia Plant This Month. “South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co said Friday it will break ground this month on a $5.5 billion electric vehicle and battery plant in the United States. Hyundai plans to begin commercial production in the first half of 2025 with an annual capacity of 300,000 units. The Oct. 25 groundbreaking for the Hyundai Group ‘metaplant’ in Savannah, Georgia is part of the Hyundai Group’s ‘commitment of $10 billion by 2025 to foster future mobility in the U.S., including production of EVs,’ the company said.” [Reuters, 10/14/22]
The Verge: Kia Plans To Build EVs In The US To Comply With New Federal Tax Credit. “Kia is planning to manufacture its electric vehicles in the US, according to South Korean media sources Maeil Business and SBS (via The EV Officials). The automaker currently builds its flagship electric car and North American sales hit, the Kia EV6, in South Korea at its Hwasung plant. But now, Kia will shift some of its EV assembly to the US by 2024, according to the report. Manufacturing EVs in the US would allow Kia to qualify for new incentives that were included in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which requires automakers to build EVs in North America to qualify.” [The Verge, 9/21/22]
WLTX: Company Expected To Create 100 Jobs In Midlands With New EV Charger Manufacturing Facility. “ABB E-mobility, recently announced continued expansion of its global and US manufacturing footprint with new manufacturing operations in Columbia, South Carolina. The multi-million dollar investment will increase production of electric vehicle chargers, including Buy America Act compliant ones, and create over 100 jobs. The company says its new facility will be capable of producing up to 10,000 chargers per year, ranging from 20kW to 180kW in power, which are ideally suited for public charging, school buses, and fleets.” [WLTX, 9/19/22]
THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT IS INCENTIVIZING BATTERY MANUFACTURING IN THE U.S., SHORING UP SUPPLY CHAINS AND PROMPTING INVESTMENTS AND NEW JOBS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
Wall Street Journal: Redwood Materials To Build Second Battery-Parts Factory In South Carolina. “Battery-recycling startup Redwood Materials Inc. is accelerating its U.S. investment, saying it plans to build a second factory in South Carolina.”… “The Inflation Reduction Act ‘is bringing a ton of additional cell manufacturing to the U.S.,’ [Redwood Materials Founder] Mr. Straubel said. ‘I’d say this has gently shifted our priorities to really accelerate investment in the U.S. a little bit ahead of looking overseas.’” [Wall Street Journal, 12/14/22]
Reuters: Hyundai, SK To Build New Battery Plant In Georgia. “Hyundai Motor Group and SK On said Thursday they will build a new battery manufacturing plant in the U.S. state of Georgia to supply the Korean automaker's U.S. assembly plants.” … “The companies aim to begin operations in 2025 and said ‘stakeholders estimate it will create more than 3,500 new jobs through approximately $4-5 billion of investment’ in Georgia's Bartow County. Hyundai separately broke ground in October on a $5.54 billion electric vehicle (EV) and battery plant in Georgia's Bryan County.” [Reuters, 12/8/22]
Bloomberg: BMW Battery Supplier Invests $810 Million In South Carolina Plant. “Envision AESC, a former battery unit of Nissan Motor Co., is investing $810 million to build a new battery manufacturing plant in Florence, South Carolina, to supply BMW AG. The plant, which is scheduled to start production in 2025, will create 1,170 new jobs and produce 30 gigawatt hours of battery capacity a year in its initial phase with room for expansion, said Jeff Deaton, Envision AESC’s managing director in the US. The battery plant will supply BMW’s manufacturing hub in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in which the automaker is investing $1.7 billion to produce electric vehicles.” [Bloomberg, 12/6/22]
AZ Inno: $1 Billion Battery Manufacturing Plant Proposed For Southern Arizona. “Utah-based American Battery Factory is planning to build a $1.2 billion battery manufacturing plant in southern Arizona across 267 acres, according to Pima County documents and the startup. The new factory is expected to hire 1,000 employees at full build-out, with average annual salaries of $65,000, and have an estimated economic impact of $3.1 billion over a decade.” [AZ Inno, 12/2/22]
Bloomberg: Startup Behind Made-in-US Battery Plant Raises $75 Million. “Startup Kore Power, Inc. has raised $75 million of an anticipated $150 million financing round to fund construction of a lithium-ion battery factory in Arizona, betting the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act will boost demand for US-made cells.”…“The company plans to break ground on its KorePlex factory near Phoenix next month, with cell production scheduled to start in late 2024.” [Bloomberg, 11/30/22]
Reuters: Hyundai Motor, SK On Sign EV Battery Supply Pact For N. America. “South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group has signed an agreement to source electric vehicle (EV) batteries in North America from battery maker SK On, the companies said on Tuesday. The partnership follows the signing in August of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which will require automakers to source a certain percentage of critical minerals for their EV batteries from the United States or a U.S. free-trade partner to qualify for new U.S. EV tax credits.” [Reuters, 11/29/22]
Electrek: LG Chem Is Going To Build A $3B EV Battery Cathode Factory – The Largest In The US. “LG Chem today announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state of Tennessee to build a $3 billion cathode factory for electric vehicles. The new plant, which will be sited in Clarksville, will be the largest of its kind in the US.” …“LG Chem said it chose Tennessee because of its proximity to key customers, ease of transporting raw materials, and cooperation from state and local governments. It also cites the passage of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as a catalyst for the new factory, which will see the creation of 850 jobs.” [Electrek, 11/22/22]
Financial Times: Billions Flow To Nascent US Battery Sector With Push From Climate Law. “Chemicals group Livent this week completed an expansion of a lithium hydroxide refinery in Bessemer City, North Carolina.”… “Biden has thrown the weight of the government behind the buildout of the US battery supply chain as he looks to achieve a triple goal of combating climate change, boosting manufacturing jobs and reducing reliance on China, which dominates the market. In August he signed the country’s biggest-ever piece of climate legislation. The Inflation Reduction Act will provide lucrative tax incentives to companies that develop mines, processing facilities, battery plants and EV factories in the US.” [Financial Times, 11/16/22]
CNBC: Honda’s New $4.4 Billion EV Battery Plant Will Be Built In Ohio. “Honda Motor and LG Energy Solution on Tuesday said a new multibillion-dollar plant to produce batteries for electric vehicles will be located in Ohio.”…“The announcements are part of several recent multibillion-dollar investments in U.S. production of EVs and batteries amid tightening emissions regulations and legislation to encourage domestic manufacturing.” [CNBC, 10/11/22]
New York Times: Toyota Adds $2.5 Billion To Its Investment In A North Carolina Battery Plant. “Toyota Motor said on Wednesday that it was more than doubling its investment in a battery plant in North Carolina as part of a broader effort to catch up to rivals in fielding electric vehicles.”… “The recently approved Inflation Reduction Act has increased the incentive for such plants by tying subsidies for E.V. purchases to the amount of a vehicle’s battery that is built in North America.” [New York Times, 8/31/22]
AP: Electric Battery Maker To Locate Factory In Northern Wva. “The energy startup SPARKZ said Tuesday it will locate an electric battery factory in northern West Virginia. The batteries will be built at a 482,000-square-foot (4.5-hectare) plant in Taylor County off U.S. Route 50 near Bridgeport, the company said in a statement. The plant, which eventually will employ 350 workers, originally was a glass factory that ceased operations in 2009. The plant will produce cobalt-free batteries, an effort to bring down the cost of U.S. lithium-ion battery production.” [AP, 8/30/22]
Wall Street Journal: Tesla Supplier Panasonic Plans Additional $4 Billion EV Battery Plant In U.S. “Panasonic Holdings Corp., a supplier to electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc., is in discussions to build an additional roughly $4 billion EV battery plant in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter. The Japanese company is looking at Oklahoma as the location for its new plant.” [Wall Street Journal, 8/26/22]
THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT’S EMPHASIS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY HAS PROMPTED INVESTMENTS ACROSS THE U.S. THAT WILL HELP GROW OUR ECONOMY WHILE COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE
Renewable Energy Magazine: Fusion Fuel And Electus Energy Announce Agreement To Develop A 75 MW Green Hydrogen Project In Bakersfield, California. “Zachary Steele, Co-Head of Fusion Fuel, said that North America has always been a focal point of Fusion Fuel’s growth strategy as the company builds upon its successes in Iberia and begin to look beyond Southern Europe. “However, the passage of the game changing Inflation Reduction Act earlier this year caused a dramatic acceleration of those plans” added Mr Steele. “The production and investment tax credits promise to significantly improve the already attractive economics of our solar-to-hydrogen solution in many markets across the US.” [Renewable Energy Magazine, 12/1/22]
Electrek: Nanograf To Launch US’s First Large-Volume Silicon Oxide Factory. “Chicago-headquartered NanoGraf Technologies, which claims it has enabled the world’s most energy dense 18650 lithium-ion cell, today announced that it will open the first large-volume silicon oxide factory in the United States.”…“Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, NanoGraf will also get a 10% tax credit for domestic anode material production.” [Electrek, 11/30/22]
CNBC: First Solar selects Alabama for new factory as Inflation Reduction Act prompts domestic manufacturing boom. “First Solar said Wednesday that it has selected Alabama as the site for its fourth U.S. solar panel manufacturing facility, after the Inflation Reduction Act and its incentives for domestic manufacturing encouraged companies to onshore production. First Solar will spend around $1.1 billion on the facility in North Alabama’s Lawrence County. The company announced plans for a new facility in August, but hadn’t yet disclosed the location. First Solar CEO Mark Widmar previously told CNBC that the Inflation Reduction Act was the key catalyst that led First Solar to choose the U.S. for its latest factory.” [CNBC, 11/16/22]
KSTP: Cummins Picks Fridley For 1st US Electrolyzer Production Plant. “Expanding Cummins’ electrolyzer manufacturing footprint to the United States is a milestone not only for our company but an important step in advancing global decarbonization efforts,” Alexey Ustinov, the vice president of electrolyzers at Cummins, said. “This is a reflection of increasing government support through the Inflation Reduction Act, Hydrogen Hubs and a blossoming hydrogen economy in the states.” [KTSP, 10/11/22]
Mining Technology: Piedmont Lithium To Build Lithium Hydroxide Plant In Tennessee, US. “Piedmont Lithium president and CEO Keith Phillips said: “The rapid electrification of the automotive market has led to massive investments in electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery production in the United States, creating a critical need for lithium hydroxide produced in the US. ‘Our Tennessee lithium operation should play an important role in helping to mitigate supply shortages in the American EV industry and battery supply chain, particularly in the wake of recent legislation incentivising the use of domestically sourced critical materials and providing tax credits for US producers.’” [Mining Technology, 9/2/22]
CNBC: First Solar Announces New U.S. Panel Factory Following The Inflation Reduction Act. First Solar announced Tuesday that it will build a new solar panel manufacturing facility in the U.S. on the heels of the Inflation Reduction Act, which incentivizes domestic manufacturing. The company will invest up to $1 billion in the new factory, which it plans to build in the Southeast of the U.S. The newly announced plant will be the panel maker’s fourth fully integrated U.S. factory. First Solar also said Tuesday that it will spend $185 million upgrading and expanding its existing facilities in Ohio. CEO Mark Widmar pointed to the IRA as the key catalyst that made the company decide to build another factory in the U.S. rather than looking elsewhere. The funding packages create, for the first time, a ‘long-term view and understanding of the industry, and policies aligned to that industry,’ he told CNBC. ‘With that level of clarity, we stepped back and evaluated the alternatives or the options of where we could go with our next factory and when we looked at it comprehensively the U.S. was a very attractive option,’ he said.” [CNBC, 8/30/22]
Energy Storage News: Inflation Reduction Act Prompts Turkish Company To Increase US Gigafactory Output To 3GWh. “Turkish group Kontrolmatik Technologies has increased the output of its planned energy storage-focused gigafactory in the US by 50%, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)”…“It expects to pick a site within a month and for the facility to start production in 2024, according to an announcement authored by Kontrolmatic’s USA CEO Bahadir Yekti who cited the passing of the IRA yesterday as a major factor in the decision to increase its planned capacity from 2GWh to 3GWh.” [Energy Storage News, 8/17/22]
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