A Japanese company will invest $2 billion for an electric vehicle battery plant at Bowling Green that will employ 2,000 workers, state officials and company representatives said Wednesday.
“We are thrilled that Envision AESC — the world’s leading EV battery technology company — has picked Kentucky,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in remarks prepared for the announcement in Frankfort. “Envision AESC is making the second largest economic development investment Kentucky has ever seen, investing $2 billion to build a new, state-of-the-art EV battery gigafactory in Bowling Green.”
Envision AESC U.S. Managing Director Jeff Deaton said the plant will make Kentucky “the new gigafactory capitol” in the United States.
Kentucky will provide up to $116.8 million in state incentive programs and up to $5 million in skills training, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
Last September, the largest economic investment in Kentucky history was announced with news that Fort Motor Co. and South Korea-based SK Innovation would build two battery manufacturing plants at Glendale in Hardin County, which are projected to employ 5,000 workers.
The Envision AESC plant will be approximately 3 million square feet.
“The scale of this project is like nothing our community has ever seen before,” said Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott. “This announcement boasts the largest investment amount, job creation and facility size in our history. It’s phenomenal for the future of our region.”
The news release states, “As an integral part of its global strategy, Envision AESC works collaboratively with businesses, supply chains, academic institutions and governments to accelerate the transition to zero emissions mobility in the coming decades. Envision AESC has committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions in all global operations by 2022 and carbon neutrality across the whole value supply chain by 2028.”
Envision AESC operates globally with plants in Japan, China, France, the United States and the United Kingdom. The Bowling Green plant will be built on a 500-acre site in Kentucky Transpark.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
