Battery Boom: Energy-storage companies bet big on upstate South Carolina

Mounting Investments

The landscape of energy production is evolving at an unprecedented pace with South Carolina taking the lead, as energy-storage companies invest nearly $8 billion in the state within the last two years. The diverse scope of projects being developed implies that South Carolina could have more pieces of the energy storage value chain than any other US state, as per David Clayton, executive director of Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research. This extensive investment quotient widens the application realms, breaking the norm of electric vehicle centric conversations around energy storage.

Securing Raw Material Supply

The demand for energy storage in industrial applications is rising significantly, and the foundation of these batteries lies in the procurement of raw materials such as lithium and cobalt. With countries like Chile, Australia and China holding the majority of exploitable lithium reserves, this becomes one of the key reasons for energy-storage companies heavily investing in U.S. facilities.

One such significant development is the establishment of battery recycling and lithium-recovery facilities in South Carolina such as Redwood Materials’ $3.5 billion facility in Berkeley County, Cirba Solutions’ $300 million recycling setup in Richland County and Albemarle Corp.’s $1.3 billion lithium recovery center in Chester County. Clayton believes these operations would strengthen the domestic energy-storage production supply chain since several industry heavyweights are making significant investments in the state.

Building Batteries and Powering Industries

South Carolina has seen substantial advancements, one of the hallmarks being BMW Manufacturing’s heavy influx of $1.7 billion to empower its Spartanburg County plant to manufacture six fully electric models by 2030. A $700 million battery-assembly plant is also in the works in Woodruff. The battery cells for this facility would be manufactured at a currently being built factory in Florence County by AESC , who are investing $1.6 billion in South Carolina operations.

For industrial utility, EnerSys announced a $500 million investment in Greenville County to manufacture lithium-ion batteries. Moreover, energy storage companies, despite being significant power consumers, are anticipated to contribute to the power supply solution, especially with the plentiful sunlight facilitating the usability of solar energy.

The Future Opportunity

Clayton stated, “It’s a billion-dollar, if not trillion-dollar opportunity. As far as that battery value chain, the entire cycle – South Carolina likely has more pieces than any other state.” The current $7.9B snapshot of energy-storage investments in South Carolina endorses this possibility with several major players rendering significant investments and creating numerous jobs in the state.

With a boom in the energy storage sector, South Carolina maintains a strategic advantage in cultivating the necessary elements of the energy storage value chain. The investment spree of the energy industry underpins the transformative possibilities of energy storage in the state.

Author: HERE Irmo