HOLLAND, MI-The state-run Michigan Economic Development Corp. has designated the 120-acre site here, planned for a new $303 million advanced battery plant, as a Renewable Energy Renaissance Zone. The 15-year designation was created by the state for the company, LG Chem-Compact Power Inc.
The zone will allow the company to operate free of virtually all state and local taxes. The firm expects to produce 15 million battery cells per year when the 650,000-square-foot plant is at full capacity.
State officials are doing anything possible to encourage electric battery production in the state, a business that is seen as the successor to the traditional automotive plant. “Investments in clean energy manufacturing such as advanced batteries are creating jobs in Michigan and moving our state and nation to a clean energy economy,” said Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
The South Korea-based LG Chem has begun construction, and said it will spend two years building the new plant, where it will hire 400 workers. Compact Power, based in Troy, MI, will operate the plant. LG Chem, a subsidiary of the giant LG Group, is a partner in developing the batteries for the new Chevy Volt, and will send the products across the Pacific until this new plant can be completed here. The company has taken out a $151.5-million loan from the Department of Energy to build the plant, and will provide the rest of the funds.
In August 2009, Vice President Joe Biden announced $2.4 billion in Recovery Act Funding awarded to support the next generation of batteries and electric vehicle manufacturing and development. A dozen Michigan companies received, in total, more than half of the funding through the federal grants. State officials, through the MEDC, created two incentive programs to seed the industry and complement federal funding opportunities: The Centers of Energy Excellence Program, to promote the development, acceleration and sustainability of energy excellence sectors in this state; and the Advanced Battery Credits Program, to provide state funding for advanced battery R&D and engineering, pack manufacturing, and cell manufacturing.
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