South Korean electric battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution has hit pause on one of two facilities it plans to build on 650 acres at Ironwood and Pecos roads in Queen Creek as part of a $5.5 billion investment in the town.
“LG Energy Solution (LGES) recently shared they are evaluating their U.S. projects,” according to a statement from the town of Queen Creek on Monday. “They’ve emphasized this does not impact phase 1, currently under construction; it does however impact phase 2, which was announced in March 2023. According to LGES, phase 2 is temporarily paused.”
LGES stated that its Queen Creek complex, set to create an estimated 2,800 jobs in the region, will consist of two manufacturing facilities that are the company’s first stand-alone cylindrical and ESS battery plants in North America.
Phase 1 of the complex is being built and will be a cylindrical battery plant called LG Energy Solution Arizona. It will produce 46-Series batteries for electric vehicles.
Phase 2 will be an ESS battery manufacturing facility called LG Energy Solution Arizona ESS that will produce lithium iron phosphate pouch-type batteries for energy storage systems. It is considered to be one of the first ESS-exclusive battery production facilities in the world.
During a stakeholder meeting in April with town, Pinal County and state officials, LGES representatives led a tour of the construction site along the State Route 24 corridor in Queen Creek’s northern tier. At the time, the beams for the first facility were already rising above the desert floor.
At the April meeting, LGES officials said they expected the cylindrical EV battery facility to be completed in late 2025. At the time they stated the second facility for LFP pouch-type batteries would be completed in 2026.
This is not the first time LGES has paused its plans in Queen Creek. In July 2022, the company put the brakes on the proposed initial facility, at that point an investment of $2.8 billion, citing the “unprecedented economic condition and investment circumstances in the U.S.” The company added it would review “various investment options” including the Queen Creek plant.
Then in March 2023, LGES announced that not only were the plans back on track, but it had increased its investment in the complex to $5.5 billion and was going to build a second facility.
As part of its development deal with LGES, Queen Creek agreed to construct new streets, widen streets, and make water and wastewater improvements in the public area adjacent to the complex at an estimated total cost of $84 million.
The town will be reimbursed for the cost of the infrastructure through state and town construction sales taxes paid by LGES as it builds its facility.
“The town is continuing infrastructure improvements that are related to phase 1 and evaluating timing of the infrastructure improvements related to phase 2,” the town statement continued. “As noted during the previous pause in 2022, construction delays and project time line changes are not uncommon, particularly for projects of this scale. The town and the county remain committed to the advanced manufacturing corridor and the continued partnership with LGES.”
A workforce training facility for LGES, Future48 Workforce Accelerator, will be located at a $42 million expansion at Central Arizona College’s Superstition campus in Apache Junction, which broke ground in September.
We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org.
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