Korea’s LG Chem Begins Construction On Chinese EV Battery Plant

Batteries

Published on November 8th, 2014 | by James Ayre

November 8th, 2014 by James Ayre 

Korea’s largest manufacturer of high-end batteries, LG Chem, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of its new EV-battery manufacturing plant in Nanjing, China.

The plant is being constructed in China in order to help meet the growing needs of the exploding Chinese market. Once completed, the Nanjing battery plant will possess an annual production capacity of over 100,000 EV battery units a year.

Tentative agreements are already in place for the plant to supply batteries to prominent Chinese automakers like SAIC Motor Corp and Qoros.

Among those present at the recent groundbreaking ceremony â€" and showing the importance of the plant to the local industry/community â€" were the Mayor of Nanjing, Miao Rui Lin; the vice mayor, Luo Qun; and the President of the Energy Solution Company at LG Chem, YS Kwon.

The development of the battery is the result of a joint venture set up in August between LG Chem and a pair of Chinese state-run companies â€" the Nanjing Zijin Technology Incubation Special Park Construction Development Co, and the Nanjing New Industrial Investment Group. LG Chem currently owns roughly half of the joint venture â€" with the other half (or so) owned by the two state-run Chinese partners.

 

Reportedly, LG Chem is investing several hundred million dollars worth of financing into the development of the factory. With the expectation being that the battery plant will generate around 1 trillion won in revenue by the year 2020.

Interesting to see China looking to Korea for further development in the country. With the future of China’s EV market being something of a mystery â€" will it explode in the coming years? muddle along? slowly grow? â€" foreign investment could potentially be something that tips the scales in the direction of an explosion.

Much, obviously, depends upon the government’s actions though â€" if the leadership of China wanted to, it could make substantial changes more or less anytime that it wanted to. The effects of said changes could of course be hard to predict though.

Related: Top EV Battery Manufacturers (Sales Report)

Image Credit: LG Chem

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: China, Korea, LG, Lg Chem Nanjing, Nanjing New Industrial Investment Group, Nanjing Zijin Technology Incubation Special Park Construction Development Co

About the Author

James Ayre 's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy. You can follow his work on Google+.