ST. LOUIS — An international conglomerate with its North American headquarters in south St. Louis is opening a new $400 million battery plant in the Carondelet neighborhood there, capitalizing on demand for electric car batteries.
Israel-based public company Israel Chemicals Ltd., more commonly known as ICL (NYSE:ICL), which last year opened an $18 million production facility to develop plant-based meat substitutes at its existing 19-acre production campus in Carondelet, plans to open a new factory at the campus at 8201 Idaho Ave. to manufacture lithium iron phosphate cathode active material. The plant is expected to be the first large-scale manufacturing site for lithium iron phosphate in the United States, the company said in a news release.
The factory is projected to be operational by 2024, opening in two phases with full production reached by 2025, the company said.
The new 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility will add 150 high-paying union and professional jobs, the company said.
The company was awarded $197 million through federal infrastructure funding for the site, subject to negotiations with the U.S. Department of Energy, ICL said. It's part of the American Battery Materials Initiative announced by President Joe Biden Wedneday, which will "mobilize the entire government" to find a sustainable supply of minerals used for power, electricity and electric cars. The agency plans to eventually award a total of $7 billion in clean energy grants to expand the domestic supply chain and add battery production, ICL said.
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