A South Korean joint venture between carmaker Hyundai and battery specialist SK On has announced plans to establish an electric vehicle (EV) battery cell production facility in the US state of Georgia.

The investment, announced by Hyundai on April 25, will be split 50:50 between the partners and will amount to $5bn. Located in Bartow County, the battery plant is expected to start production in 2025 with an annual capacity of 35 gigawatt hours — enough to power 300,000 EVs. The project will be close to Hyundai’s US production facilities in Georgia and neighbouring Alabama. 

The plan was approved by the Hyundai group on April 25 and follows its memorandum of understanding signed last November with SK On to secure EV battery supply for North America.

Iberdrola invests in Brazil’s grids 

Spanish energy multinational Iberdrola said in an announcement on April 26 that it will invest 2.4bn reais ($475m) alongside Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC to develop transmission networks in Brazil.

Iberdrola and GIC will co-invest in operational assets representing 1865 km of transmission lines and have signed a framework agreement to participate in future tenders for electricity transmission assets in Brazil, including one auction scheduled for June.

As part of its 2023–25 strategic plan, Iberdrola is slated to invest €27bn in transmission and €17bn in renewables to deliver 52 gigawatts of installed capacity globally by 2025. On April 4, it announced it was selling projects generating 8400 megawatts of combined cycle gas in Mexico for $6bn.

Tencent targets overseas gaming

Chinese tech giant Tencent is ramping up overseas investment in gaming assets, as it moves to diversify away from China, according to a Financial Times (FT) article published on April 26.

The company is aiming to invest in or purchase gaming studios, four people familiar with the situation told the FT, with European gaming studios being the primary target. This follows a slower pace for new investments towards the end of 2022, they said. Tencent is concerned that the Chinese government will prevent its domestic business from becoming as dominant as it once was.

Over recent years, Beijing has imposed sweeping restrictions on the gaming industry. In 2021, Beijing banned users younger than 18 from playing video games for no more than three hours a week. 

And finally: Paolo Cerruti, co-founder of Northvolt, told Sifted the European battery firm will confirm US expansion plans within weeks.