6K Energy breaks ground in Jackson, 'first-of-its-kind' in sustainable battery production
6K Energy broke ground on Tuesday afternoon with Gov. Bill Lee in attendance, after announcing its decision on April 18 to build the "first-of-its-kind" sustainable battery material manufacturing plant in Jackson.
The $250 million investment into the state-of-the-art facility will create approximately 230 jobs and will be located on James Lawrence Road near McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport.
Lithium-ion battery materials are currently not produced domestically, 6K leaders say, making its production methods more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly. The company boasts its effort to create more jobs domestically in the field of creating sustainable batteries in the U.S. market.
More: Why 6K Energy chose Jackson to build first-of-its-kind battery plant
More: 6K Energy battery plant to bring 230 jobs, $200 million investment to Jackson
6K CEO Aaron Bent explained that the facility will "revolutionize" decades-old technology as it produces materials that will support rapidly growing sectors of industry like electric vehicle manufacturing.
A few auto giants, focusing on electric car production, will neighbor the future 6K plant, including the BlueOval City Ford Motors plant in Haywood County in West Tennessee and General Motors in Spring Hill in southern Middle Tennessee.
"It will be the only plant in the world that can produce at a cost substantially lower than China," Bent said.
The importance behind this technology, according to Bent, is the ability to create stable, economically-viable longevity in the industry of renewable energy. Born out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma, Science and Fusion Center, the complexity and intellectual property protection of the technology has been over a decade in the making, according to 6K President Sam Trinch.
"It's taken a while to get this technology to the level that it can produce battery materials because that's a very challenging process," Trinch said. "It's already being used in additive manufacturing at our sister division, 6K Additive out of Pittsburg, so from the battery side we have very good confidence that when we hit the ground running with our processes, they're going to work. When we make the claims about environment benefits and cost, we have a really strong base of information because the technology is already being deployed."
The advanced plasma cathode system that 6K uses maintains a low environmental impact, according to the company, by means of:
90% reduction in water use
70% reduction of CO2 GHG emissions
70% reduction of energy use
Zero solid waste
Zero liquid waste
Bent added that the U.S. will need 40 more ultra-fast, ultra-clean production plants like 6K by 2030 to support its domestic need alone.
Lee noted that the one-billion-dollar investment in Tennessee College of Applied Technology facilities earlier this year, in conjunction with 6K's scholarship and internship opportunities for local students, is a reflection of the state's prioritization of workforce development.
"We've come to realize the state with the workers is going to win in competitive situations like this all the time," Lee said. "Companies are looking to invest in the United States, looking to invest in states, and part of that decision making is 'what states have a commitment to workforce development?'"
Trinch said that he expects the facility to be up and running by the third quarter of 2024.
"Another reason why we chose Tennessee was because of the site readiness," Trinch said. "We'll continue to expand at capacity and add more resources as we go."
This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Battery producer 6K Energy breaks ground alongside Gov. Lee in Jackson
