Automotive Sector Propels Kentucky to $13.8 Billion in Projects Under Construction

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info is tracking more than $13.8 billion worth of industrial projects under construction in Kentucky. While the projects span a vast range of industrial sectors, showing the most activity in the state is the automotive sector, largely due to the growth in the electric vehicle (EV) market.

Easily the two largest projects underway in Kentucky are for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries for EVs. In Bowling Green, Kentucky, Envision AESC (Japan) last year kicked off construction on a 3 million-square-foot grassroot plant to manufacture up to 30 gigawatt-hours of batteries. Construction is expected to be finished by the end of 2025. The batteries will be supplied to different manufacturers. Envision AESC is one of the main battery suppliers to Nissan Motor Company (Yokohama, Japan). Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here for more details.

About 60 miles northwest, in Glendale, BlueOvalSK, a joint venture of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) (Dearborn, Michigan) and SK Innovation (Seoul, South Korea), is constructing a new 4 million-square-foot battery manufacturing plant with the capacity to manufacture 43 gigawatt-hours of batteries per year. The batteries will be used to power Ford's electric versions of the F-Series pickups as well as other vehicles. The project is expected to be completed in 2025. Subscribers can click here for more information.

Other automotive projects in the state include an expansion and retooling of Ford's plant in Louisville to suit the F-Series Super Duty truck and a project from Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) (Toyota City, Japan) to manufacture hydrogen fuel cells for heavy duty commercial trucks. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the reports on the Ford and Toyota projects.

GE Appliances (Louisville, Kentucky) is getting in on the manufacturing action with the expansion of its appliance plant in Louisville, including new production and assembly lines to increase production of items such as dishwashers, clothes washers and refrigerators. The expanded plant is expected to add about 1,000 jobs after it is completed, which is expected later this year. Subscribers can click here for the full report.

Related to the automotive sector but coming under the domain of Metals & Minerals is Novelis Incorporated's (Atlanta, Georgia) expansion of its aluminum sheet mill in Guthrie, Kentucky, which caters to the auto industry. Novelis is constructing a $365 million recycling center that will increase sheet ingot capacity by 240 kilotons per year. The facility is being built adjacent to Novelis' automotive finishing plant and will be able to use the scrap aluminum remaining after parts are stamped from sheets. The center also will have the capability to process aluminum from vehicles at the end of their life. Novelis says the facility will reduce carbon emissions by more than 1 million tons per year. Subscribers can click here to learn more.

Running a distant second place to the state's Industrial Manufacturing Industry in regard to overall project value is Kentucky's Power Industry. One of the state's largest projects within this industry is for a natural gas-fired plant. While natural gas-fired power projects are becoming less frequent in the U.S., Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (Knoxville, Tennessee) is bucking the trend by constructing a simple-cycle unit at its Paradise power plant in Drakesboro. The facility originally consisted of three coal-fired units, two of which were retired in 2017 and replaced with natural gas-fired combined cycle units. A third coal unit was retired in 2020. Early last year, TVA began construction of the simple-cycle unit, which is expected to be completed in early 2024. The unit will add 750 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Power Project Database can click here for more details.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).