Ion battery material company promises 500 new North Carolina jobs. Here are the details.
An Indian company that manufacturers a key component in lithium-ion batteries has promised to create 500 jobs at its first U.S. factory near Wilmington.
On Thursday, North Carolina awarded Epsilon Advanced Materials an incentive package to build a facility in the Southeast county of Brunswick. The plant will produce graphite anode material, which is used for energy storage and electric vehicles.
The hundreds of workers are expected to be hired between 2026 and 2028. The average minimum wage at the site is estimated to be approximately $62,260. The company says it was looking at six Southeastern states to build its first U.S. site, with Tennessee and North Carolina the two finalists.
Epsilon plans to use raw materials like mesophase coke to produce its graphite anodes. On its website, Epsilon states this material allows anode manufacturers to “lighten the process” and minimize their carbon footprint.
State leaders, including Gov. Roy Cooper, celebrated the jobs announcement this afternoon at Brunswick County Community College.
“North Carolina continues to lead the way in the transition to a clean energy economy by attracting good-paying jobs from great companies like Epsilon that make our state stronger and healthier,” Cooper said.
Epsilon Advanced Materials is a subsidiary of the Mumbai-based Epsilon Carbon. In a statement Thursday, the company’s managing director Vikram Handa said the Brunswick plant marks “the largest Indian investment in the U.S. electric vehicle battery industry.”
In an interview with The News & Observer, Handa and Epsilon Advanced Materials CEO Sunit Kapur said power availability and the site’s proximity to the Atlantic Ocean were “major drivers” in the selection. The factory will occupy the Mid-Atlantic Rail Industrial Park, a megasite within 20 miles of the Port of Wilmington.
Kapur said the company intends to break ground on the site in the middle of 2024.
If it meets its hiring and investment commitments, Epsilon is in line to receive $3.44 million in payroll tax breaks from the state over 12 years. Additional state spending for the project includes $1 million to the community college system for job training and millions for infrastructure from the Golden Leaf Foundation, the N.C. Department of Transportation and the N.C. Department of Commerce.
The total state incentive package could be worth more than $19.4 million. Local incentives offered by Brunswick County and other partners total another $14 million. By the end of the state incentive grant term, in 2037, North Carolina estimates the Epsilon project will increase its GDP by $1.3 billion and boost net state revenue by around $22 million.
Epsilon’s arrival brings another lithium ion battery stakeholder to the state. Toyota is currently constructing an ion battery plant south of Greensboro expected to employ 2,100 people.
A pair of lithium mining companies also look to operate west of Charlotte in Gaston County.
This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Ion battery material company promises 500 new North Carolina jobs. Here are the details.."
