nick.nigro@atlaspolicy.com

Honda and LG Energy Solution have committed to invest $3.5 billion in the new joint venture (JV) facility, with their overall investment projected to reach $4.4 billion. The facility is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024, with plans to create 2,200 jobs, and the aim for approximately 40GWh of annual production capacity. The JV company will deliver lithium-ion batteries with cutting-edge technology to support Honda's plan to build battery-electric vehicles (EV) in North America.

The Ford Motor Co. announced on Thursday plans to build an all-electric vehicle at the Ohio Assembly Plant in Lorain County. The move would create 1,800 new union jobs, doubling the workforce at the plant, and comes with a $1.5 billion investment. Bill Samples, president of UAW Local 2000, said the investment is huge for the workers and surrounding community. The plant currently employs about 1,700 people, including just over 100 salaried workers. Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, said Ohio offered $200 million in incentives for Ford to make the investment, though Gov. Mike DeWine declined to provide specifics.

SEMCORP Advanced Materials Group announced Thursday it will establish a manufacturing facility in Sidney, Ohio, creating nearly 1,200 jobs with $73 million in annual payroll and $916 million in capital investment.

Illuminate USA, a leading US solar panel manufacturer, announced the official start of commercial operations at what will soon be one of the nation’s largest advanced solar panel manufacturing facilities.

A Canadian company continues work on plans to build a billion dollar graphite processing plant in Weathersfield Township.

ReElement Technologies Corporation (“ReElement”), a leading provider of high-performance refining capacity of rare earth and critical battery elements, announced the expanded initiative at its Kentucky Lithium refinery to enable production of ultra-pure rare earth oxides and other byproducts from coal tailings and other types of mine waste in addition to battery-grade lithium products from spodumene-bearing ores.

Starfire Mine, formerly one of the largest coal mines in the United States, will be the new site of an 800 MW solar energy center used by Rivian Automotives and nonprofit The Nature Conservancy. The announcement was made by global renewable power producer BrightNight. Once complete, the BrightNight Starfire Renewable Energy Center will have an 800 MW capacity, producing enough electricity to power over 500,000 households. It will be the largest renewable power project in Kentucky and one of the largest in the nation to be built on former mine lands, representing a $1 billion infrastructure investment. The project will also include BrightNight’s construction of up to a twenty-mile transmission line, enabling an additional 1 GW of renewable power generation to be built in the region in the future.

The BrightNight Gage Solar Project project, located in Ballard County, Kentucky, will feature 240-megawatts (MW) of renewable solar power to meet regional electricity needs.

The BrightNight Mayfield Solar Project will feature 200 megawatts (MW) of solar generation and a 200-megawatt, 4-hour battery energy storage system (BESS). When completed, the project will span over 1800 acres in Graves County, Kentucky, continuing BrightNight’s rapidly growing renewables portfolio in the state.

In late December, the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) granted EKPC Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCNs) for the construction of two solar power facilities. EKPC would construct a 96 MW facility in Marion County (Northern Bobwhite Solar Project), north of Lebanon, Kentucky; and a 40 MW facility in Fayette County, Kentucky (Bluegrass Plains Solar Project).