Gansam Architects + Partners/Town of Queen Creek
By Roland Murphy | AZBEX
Even though not a single brick has been laid and the first product is two to three years from rolling out the doors, the LG Energy Solution battery plant in Queen Creek is already being hailed as a success story.
Also, despite a narrowing window to put all the necessary bureaucratic and process components in place, local and company officials remain optimistic about breaking ground this year.
An Aug. 16 blog post from the advocacy group U.S. Environmental Defense Fund names the project as one of five high-profile endeavors benefitting from incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act—a Biden administration incentive program to promote clean energy investment in the United States. Having recently marked its first anniversary, the IRA is playing a major part in President Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign.
The LGES plant is planned for a total investment of $5.5B to create two battery plants on the 300-acre site at Ironwood Drive and Germann Road. Upon completion, the project will create thousands of direct and indirect jobs and make LGES Queen Creek’s largest employer.
According to a March announcement from the Arizona Commerce Authority, the planned development consists of a $3.2B electric vehicle cylindrical battery manufacturing facility with a total capacity of 27 GWh and a $2.3B lithium iron phosphate pouch-type battery plant with a capacity of 16 GWh for energy storage systems. BEX Companies’ research has estimated the construction-specific costs for the two plants at between $1.5B and $2B.
Multiple announcements and sources have cited the Queen Creek plan as the largest single investment for a stand-alone battery manufacturing facility in North America.
