FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A battery manufacturer has selected Kentucky for a nearly $712 million project to produce industrial-sized batteries used to store and distribute energy, a process seen as increasingly important to help secure a reliable electric grid for the country, officials said Friday.
The Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing plant will employ 1,572 workers once the project reaches full capacity, deepening Kentucky’s ties to emerging battery technologies. Companies making batteries to power vehicles have announced projects totaling nearly $12 billion in new investments and expected to create more than 10,280 fulltime jobs in Kentucky.
“With this investment, we’re putting our stamp on working to become just the battery capital of the United States,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in announcing the new project in Shelbyville.
Production at the Shelbyville plant is expected to begin in late 2025.
The plant, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, will produce batteries used by utilities and other customers to store energy at large scale. The batteries are about 20 feet long, 8 feet wide and nearly 9 feet tall. They can be paired with solar, wind or other forms of electricity generation and are seen as playing a crucial role for both a green energy future and a secure power grid.
The batteries can keep a steady flow of power when sources like wind and solar are not producing. For example, when people are sleeping and thus using less electricity, the energy produced from wind blowing through the night can be stored in batteries — and used when demand is high during the day.
“Energy storage is a crucial part of the new and evolving electricity grid,” said Shawn Qu, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. “Battery cells are the heart of a utility-scale energy storage system. This project will put Kentucky at the center of the effort to build a robust and secure electricity grid for this country.”
For centuries, Kentucky coal helped power the nation. Now, the Shelbyville plant will produce batteries used across the country to help ensure a reliable flow of electricity for consumers, Beshear said.
“This is energy security for the United States,” the governor said. “It’s in our national security. And this company choosing to do it in Kentucky means we’re going to be a part of providing that security for the entire country’s infrastructure and in the grid.”
The battery factory will be the largest economic development project in Shelby County’s history and ranks as the third-largest jobs project announced during Beshear’s nearly five-year tenure as governor.
