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The Miracle at Twin Oaks Drive

Canada’s first lithium-ion battery plant is being constructed before all our eyes—at a pace that’s difficult to believe.

By Matthew St. Amand

The NextStar lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant on Twin Oaks Drive is the largest private-sector investment in Ontario history. The construction work going on at the site is moving at a breathtaking pace. Most Essex County residents know about the battery plant, but one thing they may not know is that the NextStar Energy team is now here, in Windsor.

Those were the words of Sung Park, Planning Director of NextStar Energy, who took some time to speak to W.E. Manufacture Magazine on behalf of NextStar CEO, Danies Lee.

“I have been involved with this project since 2021,” Sung explains. “At that time, we were looking for the best site in North America to establish this lithium-ion battery plant. The southern United States had many different options. We wondered ‘Why don’t we include Canada, too?’ Once we began looking into Canada, we saw advantages over the United States.”

Among these advantages were support from all levels of government: municipal, provincial, and federal.

“Compared to United States, we found the best support here,” Sung continues, “in the form of incentives, infrastructure support, the Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs), which shortened the approval process. The city government provided us with a very good site at a very competitive price. The federal and provincial governments also provided many incentives.”

The NextStar site search group was also impressed by Windsor’s physical location, situated right next to Detroit.

“Windsor is the capital of automotive manufacturing in Canada,” Sung says. “We were looking for a place where the auto industry is strong. In the battery manufacturing industry, we need help from the auto industry.”

Sung continues: “As we looked deeper at Windsor as a possible site, we saw that the Canadian workforce is as strong as the American workforce, and

Canada was very competitive wage-wise. In Windsor, we will be hiring thousands of people. Everywhere we searched up to that time—in Ohio, Michigan—we knew we needed the right people, but there was not enough of them in those locations. In Windsor, we have very strong automotive engineers and operators. Also, the unemployment rate is higher in Windsor than elsewhere, which, for us, is good because we can hire more people than elsewhere.”

Regarding progress on the construction occurring at the battery plant site, Sung revealed the following: “The lithium-ion batteries are divided into two components: the cell and the module. The cell is the core technology of the batteries. The module is the outer portion around the cell. Our factory is being constructed in two phases. Modular is first, and then the cell.”

The cell buildings will require more time to be constructed than the module portion. To give some kind of scope, the module building will be a little over 300,000 square feet in size. The cell building, which will also serve as the main building will be almost four million square feet. The rest of the space will be taken up with parking for 1,500 employees.

“The module component can be started earlier,” Sung says. “We’re looking at the end of this year, 2023, for the building to be completed and we are planning to begin production in 2024. For the first few months, we will produce sample products. The real stuff will begin production in the middle of 2024. As for the cell component, we are looking at a 2025 completion date.”

What types of businesses does NextStar anticipate coming to this area once the battery plant is completed?

“Similar to the automotive industry, once the battery plant is completed and beginning production, a great many suppliers will come and support the plant,” Sung says. “The battery plant is huge. It needs hundreds of suppliers from Asia. The EV battery segment is strong in Asia. That is where most of our suppliers are located right now. What we’re trying to do is, eventually, get those suppliers to come to Canada and be near the facility. It will be good for them and good for us. We are inviting more suppliers to the Windsor area. There is already one Korean module component supplier, near the airport. Similar to that, we will eventually get more.”

This is a reference to the Dongshin Motech facility, which has signed a lease agreement with the City of Windsor for a twelve-acre parcel of land off Wheelton Drive near the Windsor Airport. This is part of a $60-million investment, which may grow to as much as $90-million, creating 300 new jobs. The Dongshin Motech plant will manufacture battery casings for the lithium-ion batteries that will be produced at the NextStar battery plant.

“While they are being lured through the tremendous investment that [NextStar Energy] are making across town,” Windsor mayor, Drew Dilkens was quoted as saying in local media, “I know they have already started the process of securing additional investment and potential clients to expand their operations.”

Dongshin Motech already has a supply plant right next to LG Energy Solutions (one half of the joint venture that created NextStar Energy) battery plant in Poland. Choon Woo Lim, Chief Executive Officer of DongShin Motech Ltd., says that ever since the company’s experience in Poland, they have sought to continue their strong relationship with LG Energy Solutions and they wanted to continue that relationship in Windsor. He also noted the significant support they have received from the City of Windsor as one of the reasons for selecting this region for the company’s first North American facility.

Dongshin Motech is hopeful about completing construction of the Windsor factory by September 2023 with a goal of supplying battery cell casings to NextStar Energy by May or June of 2024.

So, what kind of technical skills will be in demand at the NextStar battery plant?

“Battery production is part of the automotive industry and requires mechanical engineers and operators,” says Sung. “The battery also involves chemical production, so chemical engineers will be needed. Our first priority is getting as many automotive engineers and operators as possible. On the chemical engineering side, we are working with local schools—St. Clair College and the University of Windsor—to incorporate the program that will foster the workforce.”

NextStar Energy is expected to directly employ an estimated 2,500 workers, locally.

CEO of Invest Windsor-Essex, Stephen MacKenzie, affirms much of what Sung says.

“One of the reasons our region was selected, we have St. Clair College and University of Windsor that will provide the education and training for potential employees,” Stephen explains. “This is a different automotive industry—the green industries—which involves a certain amount of transition to occur. But at the heart of it, there will still be manufacturing components, engineers, technicians, operators.”

Stephen continues: “We’ve been a leader in automotive manufacturing since 1904 when Henry Ford put his first factory here. We were the first plant of its kind outside of the United States. We’ve now turned toward the green industries. Windsor-Essex is constantly evolving. We’re now getting into EV. Securing this investment, and the follow-up investment, ensures our place, our status, for generations to come.”

All the while, the project between Twin Oaks Drive and Banwell Road continues apace. That is what it looks like when people from different countries, different levels of government, and even different political parties work together. W.E.

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