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Hiring Improves in August

EnerSys Selected for $199 Million Award Negotiation to Develop State-of-the-Art Lithium-Ion Cell Gigafactory

EnerSys (NYSE: ENS), a global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, said Sept. 20, 2024, it has been selected to enter into award negotiations for $199 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains to support the development of EnerSys’ lithium-ion cell production facility in Greenville, South Carolina.

The DOE funding is part of the federal $62 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing Grants, which are focused on ensuring that the U.S. has a viable battery materials processing industry with the objective of expanding domestic battery manufacturing capabilities and enhancing processing capacity.

The selection is subject to final contract and funding negotiations between the DOE and EnerSys, which could take approximately 120 days to conclude.

The company plans to invest approximately $615 million to construct and commission the plant over the next four years. The company also plans to invest approximately $50 million to construct a specialized production line for the U.S. Department of Defense. 

As announced in February 2024, EnerSys had also been awarded a comprehensive incentive package through South Carolina and Greenville County valued at approximately $200 million, which includes a combination of short-term and long-term incentives.

EnerSys intends to use the federal, state, and local funding, along with a portion of the tax benefits received through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), to support the capital requirements of the gigafactory.

EnerSys’ plan includes developing a 500,000 square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with the potential to create up to 500 jobs.

The operation will manufacture various form factors of lithium-ion cells for commercial, industrial and defense applications, with an initial production capacity of five gigawatt hours (GWh) per year.

Officials said the factory will help support the needs of critical customers such as the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) which has specific manufacturing requirements for domestically sourced batteries.

EnerSys is also progressing on a strategic relationship with Verkor SAS (Verkor), a European leader in battery technology, to leverage their expertise in electrode manufacturing and high-speed cell production to support the factory.

EnerSys’ Board of Directors has formally approved the investment and development plan.

BMW of North America, Redwood Materials Establish Partnership to Recycle Lithium-Ion Batteries

BMW of North America and Redwood Materials announced a partnership to recycle lithium-ion batteries from all electric, plug-in hybrid-electric, and mild hybrid BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce, and BMW Motorrad vehicles in the U.S.

Officials said the partnership demonstrates a shared commitment to sustainability, and is the next step towards creating a closed-loop circular value chain for lithium-ion batteries in the U.S.

Redwood Materials will work directly with BMW Group's network of close to 700 locations across the U.S., including dealerships, distribution centers, and other facilities to recover end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and ensure critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, lithium, and copper are recycled and refined.

Ultimately, 95 percent to  98 percent of these critical minerals will be returned to the battery supply chain to build increasingly sustainable electric vehicles, the officials said.

The materials inside of a battery are nearly infinitely recyclable and aren’t consumed or lost in their lifetime of usage in the vehicle.

Additionally, Redwood’s processes have a significantly smaller environmental impact than conventional mining or other recycling technologies, reducing energy by 80 percent, CO2 emissions by 70 percent, and water by 80 percent, the officials said. 

“Together with Redwood Materials, BMW is laying the groundwork for the creation of a fully circular battery supply chain in the U.S.,” said Denise Melville, head of Sustainability, BMW of North America. “We have said before that the future of BMW was electric, digital, and circular, and this agreement brings us a step closer to meeting that goal.” 

Redwood Materials operates a campus in Reno, Nevada, where battery components are recycled, refined, and manufactured.

A second Redwood Materials campus is under construction in Charleston, South Carolina, not far from BMW Group Plant Spartanburg and Plant Woodruff, where BMW will assemble at least six fully electric models, and the high-voltage battery packs for those vehicles, before the end of the decade.

The company’s battery cell manufacturing partner, AESC is also nearby in Florence, SC.

BMW Group was among the first automakers to establish operations in South Carolina when it broke ground in Spartanburg in 1992. Over the past 30 years, the plant has expanded several times to its current size of 8-million-square-feet.

With an annual capacity of up to 450,000 vehicles, Plant Spartanburg is the largest single BMW plant in the world.

Rushmark Properties Secures Financing to Develop Berkeley Commerce Center in Charleston

Rushmark Properties said it has closed on a construction loan with United Bank to develop Berkeley Commerce Center, a multi-building, Class-A industrial campus in Summerville, South Carolina.

With site work underway, Rushmark will commence work this fall on the first two structures’ building pads, which span 775,000 square feet.

JLL Managing Director Lee Allen, Senior Managing Director Kevin Coats and Senior Associate Tyler Smith will lead leasing and marketing efforts.

Berkeley Commerce Center is being developed in Jedburg, one of Charleston’s industrial submarkets. The site fronts Interstate 26.

At 505,440 square feet, the first building will include 2,500 square feet of office space, cross-dock configuration and 36-foot clear heights.

At 267,840 square feet, the second building features 1,200 square feet of office space, rear-load configuration and 32-foot clear heights.

Rushmark expects to deliver the first two buildings in Q4 2025. The site has the potential for three additional buildings, totaling 2.6 million square feet combined with the first two buildings under construction.

The project was designed by architects LS3P Associates with civil engineers Thomas & Hutton, and HITT Contracting is the general contractor. 

Officials said Berkeley Commerce Center offers seamless connectivity to the MSA’s primary demand drivers, including Charleston International Airport and the Port of Charleston.

Additionally, officials said the market features a robust and diversified workforce, with 72 percent of the incoming labor pool holding higher education degrees.

The facility is being developed in Charleston’s industrial pocket, which is also home to Fruit of the Loom, TBC Corporation, Gerber Childrenswear, Curtiss-Wright, Argo Merchants Group, 3G Distribution and IFA Rotorian, among many others. 

Founded in 1998, Rushmark is a privately held real estate investment firm committed to developing industrial, multi-family residential housing, mixed-use commercial and retail assets in geographic areas primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. 

Said Dan Doty, president of Rushmark: “With the recent pullback in capital markets, we seized the opportunity to bring a premier industrial campus to one of the most compelling locations on the East Coast."

Doty added, "The strong market fundamentals, diversified drivers of demand, continued growth of the Port and population growth in the Southeast strategically align with our long-term vision for Berkeley Commerce Center.”

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