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Belgian plastics and chemicals giant Solvay has been selected for a $178.2 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to help its Augusta site contribute to shoring up the American electric-vehicle battery supply chain.
The grant, which is still subject to approval by the Solvay board of directors, would help the company construct a production line for polyvinylidene fluoride, or PVDF, a polymer used as a binder and coating for the separator in lithium-ion batteries. It’s also used in semiconductors and other applications.
Solvay says most top producers of EV batteries already use the material and that the new plant could eventually produce enough to serve 5 million cars annually — about 10 times the number of pure EVs sold in the U.S. this year. To meet to increased demand globally, Solvay has already ramped up PVDF production in France and China.
“We are proud to receive the federal government’s support for manufacturing technologies that will provide the U.S. with critical raw materials for building an independent, sustainable EV value chain,” said Mike Finelli, president of Solvay Growth Platforms and Chief North American Officer, in a news release circulated by the office of U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who lobbied the Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm for the grant.
DOE terms require company to put down matching funds, which means the capital investment would total $356.4 million; it would create 500 temporary construction jobs and 100 permanent manufacturing jobs. The DOE said that if carried out, the project could lead to a further 500 indirect jobs “created across the value chain.”
Solvay aims to extend the benefit to the community by boosting its commitment to local STEM education among disadvantaged populations and prioritize these groups for recruitment, according to the DOE.
The grants were doled out to 21 projects around the country thanks to $2.8 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that passed in November 2021. Solvay was the only project designated in Georgia, along with a few others in Tennessee and other Southern states.
It’s the third major project in Augusta related to the electric-vehicle value chain within the last year — and all with international connections. Germany’s Aurubis is investing $340 million in a recycled copper smelter, while Japan’s Denkai is putting $430 million into a copper foil facility.
According to the Augusta Chronicle, Solvay bought the Augusta facility from BP-Amoco in 2000 and has invested steadily in the community, including an $85 million expansion announced in 2015. Global Atlanta visited the facility in 2019.
The Augusta plant is one of two major facilities run by Solvay Specialty Polymers USA LLC in Georgia. During a historic trade mission to Atlanta in June, Princess Astrid of Belgium helped inaugurate the company’s new innovation lab and 3D printing line in Alpharetta during what was her first company visit on a packed two-day itinerary.