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A South Korean electric battery recycler is the latest clean-energy firm pulling back on investment plans for Georgia amid flagging demand for electric vehicles and the impending elimination of federal EV subsidies.
SungEel Recycling Park Georgia LLC had planned to spend $37 million and hire more than 100 people at a facility in Toccoa.
Stephens County officials announced in April that the project was stalled, and as of July 3, the industrial authority was reportedly in the process of buying back two sites in the Hayestone Brady Industrial Park developed with the help of a $700,000 state grant.
“We look forward to marketing those sites and finding another company that were are excited to work with as we were Sungeel,” Stephens County Development Authority president and CEO Brittany Ivey told WLHR radio.
The news came months before the passage of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on July 3, which phases out $7,500 subsidies for new electric-vehicle purchases by Sept. 30, sooner than earlier versions of the bill. The subsidies had previously been set to sunset in 2032.
Republicans had long telegraphed the repeal of what they called EV “mandates” and tax breaks for solar energy even as some of Georgia’s most conservative members of Congress urged President Trump to preserve at least the production tax credits for the latter as a way to counter China and bolster his goal of American “energy dominance.”
Critics say the bill threatens progress in the South’s so-called “Battery Belt,” in which Georgia is a key node thanks to South Korean investors that have committed to at least three separate sites. Only one, SK Battery in Commerce, is operational so far.
It also hits solar energy, which has been a booming business in Georgia largely thanks to billions in investment by Qcells, a Korean firm that has become the largest maker of panels in North America.
Qcells’ moves to set up its solar production base in Georgia seem to have served it well, as future subsidies seem to be contingent on when factories started construction and how well they decouple from Chinese supply chains, another stated goal of Qcells parent company Hanwha for its Georgia plants.
The demand side is where question marks arise. On the EV battery, front Hyundai is developing two separate factories with SK (Cartersville) and LG Energy Solution (next to its Bryan County factory) potentially worth a combined $10 billion for the state.
Kia and Hyundai, meanwhile, have invested heavily in electric vehicles but also boast flexible assembly lines that can make hybrids, Evs and internal combustion vehicles with little disruption. Record sales in June for Kia saw hybrids rise and slowdowns for its EV6 and EV9 models, the production of which was brought to Georgia last year.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has often touted the state’s emerging ecosystem for electric mobility even as he has panned the Biden-era subsidies as picking market winners and losers.
The governor has argued that market forces should shape electric-vehicle demand and pointed out that many of its signature projects, including the Hyundai Meta Plant near Savannah, were announced before the passage of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022.
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Sungeel HiMetal’s announcement came Aug. 18, two days after the IRA was signed into law.
Georgia has announced 33 clean-energy projects worth $12.8 billion since 2022, meaning it has much to lose from policies that discourage new factory development, according to advocacy group E2.
“This bill is a stunningly reckless blow to America’s economy and our environment,” said Bob Keefe, E2’s executive director. “At a time of skyrocketing energy demand, Congress is dismantling the policies driving a manufacturing renaissance in America and that are critical to 90 percent of the new power being added to our grid.”
Sungeel’s cancellation comes after Norway’s Freyr Battery pulled the plug on a $2.6 billion factory in Newnan and Aspen Aerogels nixed a south Georgia investment. Nippon Denkai also canned a copper foil factory in Augusta that was largely targeted toward meeting rising demand for electric vehicle batteries.
E2’s Mr. Keefe said these are the tip of the iceberg, noting that $15.5 billion in U.S. projects worth 12,000 jobs have been canceled since January, mostly in Republican states.
The New York Times reported in June that a $500 million Solarcycle panel recycling facility promising up to 1,200 jobs in Cedartown, announced in February 2024, was hanging in the balance with uncertainty around tax credits.