Courtesy of Arizona State Land Department
By Audrey Jensen | Phoenix Business Journal
South Korea-based LG Energy Solution was the sole bidder and winner of about 650 acres of state land in Queen Creek in a Tuesday morning auction. The company paid the minimum bid price of $84.44 million, or nearly $130,000 per acre.
The site is located on the northeast corner of Ironwood and Germann roads near Zimmerman Dairy Farm and CMC Steel Arizona southeast of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Queen Creek.
LG, one of the largest lithium-ion battery producers in the world, confirmed last month its plans to build a $2.8 billion battery manufacturing plant making up 1 million square feet, with a production capacity of 11 gigawatt hours.
News of LG’s plans for Arizona comes as demand for batteries continues to soar across the globe to meet the demand for electric vehicle manufacturing. Domestic supply is constrained because most of the world’s lithium-ion batteries are produced in Asia, a situation that federal lawmakers are working to change with the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act.
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