$140 million lithium battery project bringing over 500 jobs to the Charlotte area

A lithium battery parts manufacturer plans to invest $140 million in its first U.S. facility, creating 545 jobs in North Carolina.

Green New Energy Materials Inc., which makes a key part of lithium-ion batteries, will open its manufacturing plant in Lincoln County, Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said Thursday in a news release. The Denver area facility, just northwest of Charlotte, will manufacture battery separator components for North American customers.

The company will lease a 500,000-square-foot facility at the newly built Lincoln Commerce Center , Lincoln Economic Development Association Executive Director Cliff Brumfield told The Charlotte Observer. The site is off N.C. 16 in Denver, about 20 miles northwest of uptown Charlotte.

Green New Energy Materials specializes in research and development, manufacturing and sales of lithium battery components used in electric vehicles, energy storage, electric tools and other industrial applications.

The manufacturing facility is expected to open next year, Brumfield said. The average salary for jobs at GNEM will be $57,934, above Lincoln County’s average wage of $51,886.

About Green New Energy Materials and incentives

GNEM in incorporated in Delaware and partners with LG, Samsung, SKI, AESC and Northvolt.

“The United States has always been a key component of GNEM’s strategic plan of establishing clean energy supply chains worldwide,” GNEM General Manager Jay Zhu said in a statement.

GNEM’s financial guarantor for its state incentives application is Shenzhen Senior Technology Materials Co. Ltd. of China, a manufacturer of battery separator products for the lithium ion battery industry. It’s not uncommon for grant applicants to have other companies serve as guarantors for their projects, according to the state Commerce Department.

“They are not owned in any way or led by the Chinese government,” Brumfield said. “The state of North Carolina and we heavily vetted this project before offering incentives.”

For its investment, GNEM will receive over $3.6 million in state tax incentives over 12 years, which was approved Thursday by N.C. Economic Investment Committee. State payments occur if job creation and investment targets are met.

The state also approved $1.2 million from the Utility Account, which helps rural counties fund infrastructure projects. GNEM also qualifies for local tax incentives of $2.5 million over two years through Lincoln County’s Industrial Tax Grant, Brumfield said.

More about lithium

Lithium is used in batteries to power electric vehicles, bikes and personal electronic devices like cell phones. North Carolina is among a few places in the world where lithium mining is possible.

The lithium battery facility investment comes as two North Carolina companies plan to open lithium mines.

Last month, the state Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources approved Piedmont Lithium’s mining permit for a new lithium mine in Gaston County. The Belmont-based lithium supply company plans to build a new $1.2 billion mine and processing plant on over 1,500 acres east of Cherryville.

Albemarle Corp., based in Charlotte, also is in the approval process to reopen a lithium mine in Kings Mountain, west of Charlotte.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Defense approved a $90 million grant to support reopening Albemarle’s dormant lithium mine. The money will be used to purchase a fleet of mining equipment.

As for the Lincoln County project, Cooper said, “This investment is yet another example of the economic prosperity that clean energy can bring to our communities.”

North Carolina at ‘epicenter’ of clean energy

North Carolina has been focused on lithium as an emerging clean energy economy.

Here are some of the recent announcements from companies investing in North Carolina:

▪ Japanese company Dai Nippon Printing plans to invest $233 million and create 352 jobs at a facility 50 miles northeast of Charlotte, in the town of Linwood in Davidson County. The plant will focus on the production of lithium-ion battery pouches to power electric vehicles. DNP intends to complete its hiring at the plant between 2026 and 2029. .

▪ Forge Nano plans to invest $142 million and create 204 jobs in Wake County on Southport Drive at a new life science manufacturing site called CaMP Morrisville. The Colorado company will produce batteries “for defense, aerospace, and specialty electric vehicle markets.”

▪ The Siemens Foundation chose North Carolina as a partner in the EVeryone Charging Forward program, a $30-million, 10-year EV industry workforce training and development initiative.

▪ In September, the all-electric vehicle dealership PoleStar opened in SouthPark.

▪ Texas-based Caterpillar and Albemarle signed an agreement in November using “next-generation, battery-powered mining equipment” to support Albemarle’s efforts to establish Kings Mountain as the first zero-emissions lithium mine in North America.

▪ Vehicle charging station maker Alpitronic based in Italy is investing $18.3 million and creating 300 jobs opening its U.S. headquarters in Charlotte.

▪ The startup called Atom Power is investing $4.2 million to expand its Huntersville electric vehicle charging technology company.