Battery Boom: Energy-storage companies bet big on SC, Upstate

April 4, 2024

Greenville, SC – Almost $8 billion in capital investments have been announced by energy-storage firms in South Carolina over the past two years, signaling a significant bet on the potential of the Palmetto State. This sum is not only noteworthy in its scale but also in terms of the variety of projects it funds, meaning South Carolina may soon boast more components of the energy storage value chain than any other state, according to David Clayton, executive director of Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research.

Securing supply

While the electric vehicle market often takes the spotlight in energy storage discussions, Clayton emphasizes that industrial applications are a rising area of demand. Regardless of the application, the production of batteries invariably calls for the raw materials that they rely on, particularly rare elements including lithium and cobalt. This necessity for elements, such as lithium, of which reserves in exploitable quantities are concentrated in select few countries, is a key reason why energy-storage companies are making significant investments in U.S. facilities.

According to a market analysis by Lenore Elle Hawkins for Nasdaq published online last November, about 30% of lithium-ion battery production in 2023 came from a single Chinese company, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. This fact highlights the importance of battery recycling and lithium-recovery operations like Redwood Materials’ planned $3.5 billion facility in Berkeley County, Cirba Solutions’ proposed $300 million recycling facility in Richland County, and Albemarle Corp.’s planned $1.3 billion lithium recovery facility in Chester County.

These operations, Clayton says, will reinforce the domestic supply chain for energy-storage production, especially as a number of key industry players are investing in South Carolina.

Building batteries

One major recent development in the Upstate is BMW Manufacturing’s $1.7 billion investment to assist its Spartanburg County plant in producing six fully electric models by 2030. The vehicle manufacturer is constructing a $700 million battery-assembly plant in Woodruff where the battery cells will be delivered from a factory under construction in Florence County by AESC, which is investing $1.6 billion in South Carolina operations.

For industrial applications, EnerSys revealed in February plans to invest $500 million in Greenville County to produce lithium-ion batteries.

Right alongside the need for rare elements, battery-production facilities require an immense amount of electric power. As more businesses and individuals relocate to the state, electric utilities such as Duke Energy and Dominion Energy are scrambling to expand production capacity.

Curiously, energy-storage companies, despite being among the larger power consumers themselves, are likely to be part of the power-supply solution. Clayton suggests that solar energy, given the Southeast’s sunny climate, is likely to contribute increasing amounts to the state’s energy demand. However, for this to be feasible, effective energy storage is essential. “It’s a billion-dollar, if not trillion-dollar opportunity,” comments Clayton. “As far as that battery value chain, that entire life cycle — South Carolina probably has more pieces of that than anyone, than any other state.”