NextStar Energy, the battery joint venture between Stellantis and LG Energy Solution, has officially completed construction of its factory in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with the receipt of its operating licence. Operations are scheduled to ramp up later this year.
NextStar Energy (NSE) has announced that with the official completion of construction work, the start of cell production this year is “one step closer.” “This achievement is the direct result of a shared vision, effective partnership, and incredible hard work of everyone involved,” said Danies Lee, CEO of NextStar Energy. “As we transition from construction to operations, I am deeply grateful for the collaboration between our partner companies LG Energy Solution and Stellantis, our construction partner Alberici-Barton Malow, the City of Windsor, the provincial and federal governments, and all who have supported our project to be completed safely and on schedule.”
However, this actually refers to cell production in Ontario. NextStar commissioned the factory just under a year ago. At that time, production of battery modules with supplied cells was started. Even then, the start of in-house cell production on site was targeted for 2025, which should actually still be possible with the approval that has now been granted.
The factory is designed for an annual production capacity of 49.5 GWh. NSE produces the electrodes on-site itself, from which the cells are made, and these are then further processed in the module assembly line, which is already in operation, before being sent to the vehicle factories. Currently, 950 people work at the NSE plant, but this number is expected to rise to 2,500, as the company has committed to this number of jobs in its contracts.
Even though Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens refers to the ‘completion of construction work and the granting of the building permit’ as an important milestone, the facility is not yet completely finished. Today, there are eleven buildings on the site: two main production facilities – cell and module – and nine ancillary buildings, including a recycling centre and a safety testing laboratory. Not all of the smaller areas are operational yet, with “minor construction activities” still ongoing. However, the facility itself is “fully approved for safe occupancy and ready for production.”
Despite the announcement made in 2022, it was not always clear that cell production would actually start in Windsor. The construction of the Canadian factory did not go entirely smoothly. NextStar Energy suspended work on the production facility in May 2023. The background to this was that the Canadian federal government and the provincial government of Ontario were providing up to CAD 13.7 billion in funding for the VW battery factory in St. Thomas, which is twice the size. However, Stellantis and its battery partner LGES had announced the Windsor factory in March 2022, before the Inflation Reduction Act came into force in the US with its subsidies. The duo was not willing to accept this and demanded improvements in public funding. Both sides subsequently reached an agreement, allowing Stellantis and LG Energy Solution to resume construction work, which had been suspended in the meantime, at the beginning of July 2023.
nextstar-energy.com
