Kentucky and Michigan Charge Ahead on Advanced Battery Manufacturing

Within the last two weeks, both Kentucky and Michigan announced major developments in their ongoing efforts to build a statewide advanced battery industry. With these initiatives, the states hope to better position themselves for upcoming rounds of advanced battery development grants from the federal government and other future sources of investment.

A partnership between the state of Kentucky, the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, and Argonne National Laboratory is establishing a national Battery Manufacturing R&D Center to be located in Lexington. Focusing initially on advancing lithium-ion battery manufacturing, the Center will utilize the research and personnel from the universities, but also will have complementary R&D facilities at Argonne. Existing Kentucky programs to fund research grants and recruit researchers will be used to enhance the Center's activities.

A few days after the Kentucky announcement, the National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Batteries (NATTBatt), a partnership of 50 battery and materials manufacturing companies, announced their intention to spend $600 million to build a 1 million-square-foot campus for its headquarters, research efforts, and a new lithium-ion battery plant. The campus will be located 45 minutes south of Louisville's airport, about 90 miles to the southwest of the previously mentioned Argonne-partnered project. Participating members will be able to run trials and validate research on-site. The free land from the state for the project is situated on a parcel from a failed bid to attract a Hyundai automotive plant. Seven other states submitted proposals to attract NATTBatt.

Concentrating on automotive battery technologies, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation on April 6 to provide $220 million in tax credits for companies engaging in battery research and manufacturing. The tax credits come on top of $335 million in similar credits approved by the governor in January, creating a larger pool of resources.

Within a week of announcing the expansion in available credits, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) approved $543.5 million in tax incentives to locate four advanced battery manufacturing facilities in the state. Of the total state credits, $400 million - $100 million for each facility - comes from the expanded pool of tax incentives for advanced battery research and manufacturing.

An Argonne National Laboratory press release announcing its partnership with Kentucky is available at: http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2009/news090408.html.

A press release by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear on NATTBatt's selection is available at: http://migration.kentucky.gov/newsroom/governor/20090413batteries.htm.

A press release announcing Gov. Granholm's expanded advance battery tax rebates is available at: http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-23442_21974-212181--,00.html.