Freyr Battery, a Norway-based clean-tech company named after a Norse god, will invest $2.57 billion in Georgia by building a plant on a 368-acre site in Coweta County, according to a news release. The company said it will produce Lithium-Ion battery cell, which can be used for stationary energy storage, electric mobility and additional applications.
Gov. Brian Kemp touted Freyr as the latest investment in Georgia’s fast-growing electric battery industry, which is bolstered by forthcoming electric vehicle factories and parts suppliers.
Tom Einar Jenson, Freyr’s co-founder and CEO, said his company’s Coweta factory is another large step in the U.S. enhancing its domestic supply chain for Lithium-Ion batteries, technology that foreign countries such as China currently dominate.
“At Freyr, we are deeply committed to the ambition we share with our U.S. partners to decarbonize the transportation and energy sectors,” Jensen said in the release. “As we advance our U.S. expansion plan in cooperation with our key stakeholders, we expect to make meaningful investments to spur job creation and the eventual development of localized, decarbonized supply chains in the U.S. to enhance energy security and economic activity.”
The factory, which will be called Giga America, is expected to create 723 jobs over the next seven years. Freyr said Georgia and Coweta County “are collectively providing strong financial incentives for the Giga America project,” but did not provide specifics. The Georgia Department of Economic Development declined to provide further detail to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, saying the “project is still active at this time.”
It will be located at the Bridgeport Industrial Park site, an industrial megasite off I-85 near Newnan. Local officials welcomes Freyr and the jobs it will create.
“We are excited about the opportunities this forward-looking venture brings to our area of the state, and the addition of quality and highly-skilled jobs that will provide a significant stimulus to our local economy,” said Coweta County Development Authority Chair John Daviston.
© 2022 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
