Kentucky Working Hard To Land Advanced Battery Plant

FRANKFORT, Ky. April 13, 2009; Joe Biesk writing for the AP reported that officials are working with a nonprofit industry group to build a high-tech car battery plant in Kentucky, Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday.

The National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Batteries chose Kentucky over seven other states as the potential location for an approximately $600 million complex, Beshear said. If funding is secured, the plant could bring with it up to 2,000 jobs, Beshear said.

Kentucky is looking to become a major player in the manufacturing and development of the next generation of electric powered cars, Beshear said. The proposed plant, which would build lithium-ion batteries, could transform Kentucky's economy, Beshear said.

"Kentucky is staking claim to the car of the future," Beshear said at a Governor's Mansion news conference.

Monday's announcement came less than a week after Beshear announced Kentucky and its two largest public universities were working with Argonne National Laboratory to establish a Battery Manufacturing Research and Development Center. Researchers there will be developing a more efficient and less costly lithium-ion battery for mass production, officials said.

Kentucky already has a presence in the automobile manufacturing industry. Toyota Motor Corp., General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. all make vehicles in Kentucky.

"Kentucky will move to the forefront of the U.S. effort to catch up and retake the lead in what I call clean car technology," Beshear said. "We in Kentucky are filling the gap between the basic science and technology and the full-scale manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries."

Officials are planning to build the new facility on a 1,551-acre site in Hardin County, a location previously dangled when the state unsuccessfully sought to land a Hyundai plant. The newly proposed battery complex will have a headquarters building, assembly line for making prototypes, and a larger line for producing batteries for the wholesale market, Beshear said.

NAATBatt, the industry group, is made of about 50 companies including 3M and BASF. Jim Greenberger, a NAATBatt spokesman, said Kentucky outlasted seven other states who were competing for the plant.

The group picked Kentucky in part because of its central location and its proximity to other car manufacturing states, Greenberger said.

The battery consortium is planning to apply for the federal stimulus money next month, and is hoping to hear back by early summer, officials said. Randy Moore, president of Eagle Picher Technologies and a member of the consortium, said production could begin on batteries for hybrid vehicles in about a year.

Jobs there are expected to pay more than $40,000 per year, officials said.

Kentucky's total investment in the project will be about $200 million, with an unspecified amount from economic bonds, Beshear said. Kentucky is also investing in worker training, improvements in local infrastructure and surrounding road improvements, Beshear said.

But the bulk of the money needed to finance the project would come from the federal stimulus package.

"This is all part of my vision for Kentucky to become the epicenter of the cars of the future," Beshear said.