(Yonhap)
SK Innovation Co., South Korea's leading refiner and chemical company, said Tuesday that it will invest $727 million in building its second electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the United States.
The investment in SK Battery America, which is wholly owned by SK Innovation, is meant to further boost production of EV batteries to meet soaring demand for all-electric vehicles amid a global push for zero emissions.
The EV battery market has been on a roll as automakers around the world race to go electric due to tightened regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.
SK Battery America is set to break ground on the second EV plant with a capacity of 11.7 gigawatt-hours in July. The plant, whose location has yet to be determined, is scheduled to begin mass-producing EV batteries in 2023.
SK Innovation has already invested 1.9 trillion won in building its first EV battery plant with a capacity of 9.8 GWh in the US state of Georgia. The first plant is on track to begin mass-producing EV batteries in 2022.
The move would raise SK Innovation's global output capacity to 71 GWh, enough to supply batteries to more than 1.4 million electric vehicles.
SK Innovation said it aims to boost its capacity to 100 GWh by 2025.
Currently, SK Innovation has three plants in operation in South Korea, China and Hungary.
SK Innovation is South Korea's leading refiner, but it has moved into the EV battery business since 2008 as part of its efforts to diversify its operations and find new revenue sources. (Yonhap)