A massive electric vehicle battery company broke ground in Clarksville earlier this week, prompting praise from officials statewide.
South Korean company Dongwha officially began its construction Tuesday.
“Dongwha Electrolyte, a subsidiary of Dongwha Enterprise, is entering the U.S. battery market as it starts to build a $70 million electrolyte plant in Clarksville, Tennessee,” said TheKoreaTimes. “The groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday [local time] was attended by Dongwha Enterprise Vice Chairman Seung Ji-soo, Dongwha Electrolyte CEO Lee Si-joon, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Stuart McWhorter, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, and Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts.
Electrolytes are necessary components of lithium batteries, and are used by battery-related companies worldwide.
“We will make every effort to successfully complete the construction of our first electrolyte plant in the U.S. at the Tennessee production base. We aim to showcase our company’s capabilities in the North American battery material market. Leveraging our research and development (R&D) expertise and technological prowess demonstrated through global production capacity and self-production of major additives, we strive to gain a market advantage.” Dongwha Electrolyte CEO Lee Si-joon said.
Gov. Bill Lee (R) celebrated the groundbreaking.
“Honored to join the groundbreaking of Dongwha Electrolyte’s first U.S. facility in Clarksville – a major investment creating jobs for Tennesseans & advancing our position as a national leader in battery production. TN continues to be a top state for companies to grow & thrive,” he said on Twitter.
Honored to join the groundbreaking of Dongwha Electrolyte’s first U.S. facility in Clarksville – a major investment creating jobs for Tennesseans & advancing our position as a national leader in battery production. TN continues to be a top state for companies to grow & thrive. pic.twitter.com/uNsWHzEgZS
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) June 7, 2023
The project was first announced in March when Dongwha said it would invest $70 million in the new location and create 68 new jobs in Montgomery County.
“Dongwha Electrolyte will invest more than $70 million and create 68 new jobs in Montgomery County,” the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development said at the time. “Located on Guthrie Highway, Dongwha Electrolyte’s Clarksville operations will better position the company to serve electric vehicle lithium battery producers across the Southeast while also supporting its growing customer demand for electrolyte and other electronic materials.”
“We are enthusiastic to participate in this journey of achieving 50-percent of electric vehicle shares by 2030 together with our customers in North America. The 80,000 tons of electrolyte capacity will provide the best electrochemical technologies into the market to achieve this goal. We appreciate the strong support from the State of Tennessee and Montgomery County to realize this investment,” SiJoon Lee said at the time.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Bill Lee in Clarksville Groundbreaking” by Bill Lee.
And just how much taxpayer money did the Tennessee economic “development” cabal give to the project?