EnerSys has refocused plans for its $500 million battery cell gigafactory in South Carolina for US defence needs — and is ending a tech partnership with French Li cells developer Verkor.
The US lead and lithium major has also revised the plant’s construction schedule to now start work in the first half of fiscal 2028, instead of early 2025 as announced when South Carolina was selected to host the 4GWh per annum facility in 2024.
The battery maker’s revised plans were confirmed on July 23. EnerSys also said it now expects to receive a revised grant of $150 million from the Department of Energy. Full production is now set to start around three years after construction begins.
Under the updated plans, EnerSys expects the 500,000ft2 facility to have an initial production capacity of around 1GWh, using federal, state, local funding and operating cash flow to fund the facility’s capital cost.
The plant will support US defence requirements for secure, foreign entity of concern compliant lithium ion cells and strengthen the country’s supply chain.
Given the facility’s refined defence-focused scope, EnerSys said it intends to “transition away from its technology relationship with Verkor” and does not expect the French company to serve as the project’s technology partner.
Instead, EnerSys will draw on support from what it described as its decades-long, established technology partnerships within its existing aerospace and defence supply base.
President and CEO Shawn O’Connell said the revised strategy builds on the firm’s role as a trusted supplier of stored energy solutions for US defence applications.
“By dedicating this facility to defence‑focused lithium cell development and manufacturing, we will further strengthen a secure, resilient, domestically sourced supply chain aligned with evolving US national security requirements.”
