South Korea’s LG Energy Solution (LGES) will build a new battery manufacturing complex in Queen Creek, Arizona, in response to demands to locally produce batteries and make use of incentives offered by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The battery giant said on March 24 that it would invest about $5.5bn to construct two facilities in the Grand Canyon State. It claims this is the largest ever single investment in a stand-alone battery facility in North America.

One facility will have a capacity to produce 27 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of cylindrical batteries for electric vehicle (EVs), and is expected to start mass production in 2025. The second facility will be able to produce up to 16 GWh of lithium iron phosphate batteries for energy storage systems.

LGES’s decision to increase investment comes as demand rises from automakers to locally manufacture batteries in an effort to make use of EV tax credits offered under the IRA, a $369bn green incentive package.

US and Canada enhance chip cooperation

The US and Canada will make significant investments into their cross-border semiconductor and clean energy supply chains as the countries partner more closely on strategic issues such as trade, security and the environment.

During a joint press conference on March 24 with US president Joe Biden, Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau said his government would invest up to $250m into the Canadian semiconductor industry. Mr Trudeau added that an agreement had also been signed with IBM to extend the ability and capacity for new installations at the company’s facility in Bromont, Quebec.

Mr Biden said that the US was making $50m available to incentivise more US and Canadian companies to invest in packaging of semiconductors and printed circuit boards.

Middle East needs $151bn for new airport capacity

Airports in the Middle East will need to invest $151bn to expand capacity by 2040 to serve an expected two-fold increase in global air passenger demand, according to Airport Council International (ACI) figures.

According to news site Zawya, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions are expected to account for 58% of global air passenger demand in 2040. To accommodate this growth an investment of $2.4tn will be needed in airports across the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions, the ACI notes.

Several major airport expansions are currently underway across the Middle East. These include the New Sharjah International Airport Expansion in the UAE, which is reportedly planning over $23bn of investments in airport development over the next decade. 

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is currently building one of the world’s largest airports with six parallel runways in its capital Riyadh, and is also investing an estimated $4.5bn into Jeddah Airport City at King Abdulaziz International Airport, according to Zawya.

And finally, the Financial Times reported yesterday (March 26) that Swedish start-up Northvolt is in talks to secure more $5bn of financing from banks as it plans to build out its production facilities and become Europe’s largest battery manufacturer.