ICL, a specialty minerals producer, broke ground on its $400 million lithium iron phosphate (LFP) facility in St. Louis. The facility, predicted to be operational in 2025, will produce essential battery materials for the energy storage, EV, and clean-energy industries. Funding for the facility was supported by a $197 million grant from the United States Department of Energy.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is providing funding that will bring down energy costs for electric vehicles [and] create good jobs,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The groundbreaking of ICL’s battery materials manufacturing facility is part of a manufacturing renaissance to build our country’s supply chain for these clean energy products.”
ICL appointed McCarthy Building Companies as the general contractor for the project, and the 140,000 sq ft facility, which is expected to produce 30,000 metric tons of LFP, will create up to 900 union construction jobs.
“ICL is excited to be building the commercial-scale plant for this critical component required by the energy-storage, mobility, and infrastructure end-markets, and we’re proud to make this investment in St. Louis,” said Phil Brown, President of ICL’s Phosphate Division and North American Managing Director. “We’re excited about the demand we are already seeing for this capacity and are looking forward to moving into this new business."
