SK Group Invests Billions Toward US Energy, Batteries
South Korea’s SK Group says it is investing billions in the United States, including funds for clean energy, fuels, and batteries.
SK’s $22 billion investment, which was revealed during a teleconference with President Biden, will include up to $14 billion in electric vehicle battery production facilities and another $5 billion in clean energy. The latter piece of the investment includes electric vehicle charging, green hydrogen production, battery materials, and recycling.
The financing from SK comes on the heels of a pledge it made in June 2022 to invest $30 billion in the US through 2025. That investment from South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate is also highly focused on energy and technology.
The battery production piece of the investment will go toward building two “gigafactories” in Kentucky and Tennessee and is part of a venture with Ford. SK is also building electric vehicle battery plants in Georgia.
Those facilities are expected to have a production capacity of 129 gigawatt-hours a year for Ford. They are planned to be operational by 2025.
SK’s financial involvement comes as the US continues to advance its energy and emissions targets. Biden says since he came to office, there have been more than $200 billion in private sector investments in electric vehicles, batteries, and semiconductors.
He says that has helped the country increase its manufacturing facilities by 116% over that period, and the SK investment will further build on those numbers.
Biden has pushed many energy initiatives, and this week legislation was proposed to put more than $369 billion toward energy and sustainability programmes. Money from last year’s infrastructure bill has recently begun to be allocated to state and local governments for building energy efficiency. The Biden Administration also plans to install more than 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations as a part of its energy plans.
Much of the remainder of the investment will go toward semiconductors, an area in which SK also has a partnership with Intel. Intel is also building large chip manufacturing plants with sustainable principles in Ohio.
Source: Environmental Leader
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