NextStar Energy EV Battery Plant celebrates construction milestone

"Topping Out” ceremony held to commemorate the last structural steel beam raised in construction of NextStar EV battery plant in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. (Source: Stellantis)

Windsor’s new electric vehicle battery plant is celebrating a milestone as construction is almost 30 per cent complete.

NextStar Energy held a “Topping Out” ceremony on Tuesday with local trades employees to commemorate the last structural steel beam installed in the construction of its new EV battery plant.

The ceremony included a steel beam signing, team photos and a few words of appreciation from NextStar Energy leadership.

“People driving by the facility daily are witnessing this historic building take shape as we near the end of the construction process and prepare to enter the installation process,” said Danies Lee, CEO NextStar Energy. “We will have thousands of skilled experts at the site helping to build a world-class facility that will produce leading-edge lithium-ion battery cells and modules for the next generation of electric vehicles.”

Construction of the nearly 4.23-million square foot NextStar Energy joint venture EV battery plant with parent companies Stellantis and LG Energy Solution is progressing at a rapid pace and is now approximately 30 per cent complete, with the work-to-date having been performed by a 100 per cent Canadian crew of 950 craft workers.

The company says the project remains on track with the first phase of operations, the battery modular production, set to begin in the first half of 2024.

Construction of the NextStar plant began in August 2022 with site clearing, mass grading, and foundation activities. The first of two main buildings, known as the Module Building, has completed structural steel installation and is fully enclosed, with equipment installation that started last week.

The second building, known as the Cell Building, is nearing completion of structural steel erection and is approximately 40 per cent enclosed.

The project will be brought to life by up to 3,200 tradespeople and equipment installers (1,600 construction and 1,600 installation). Of that number, 2,300 are being serviced by Canadians.

To date, the project has seen nearly 1,600,000 labour-hours accumulated by Canadian construction tradespeople, out of a projected 6,800,000 hours (equivalent to 776 years) in total for the construction portion of the project.

Once complete, the facility will represent the first large-scale, domestic, electric-vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Canada. The plant aims to have an annual production capacity of 49.5 gigawatt hours (GWh), up from the original 45 GWh, and will create an estimated 2,500 new jobs in Windsor and the surrounding areas.

NextStar will produce leading edge lithium-ion battery cells and modules, representing approximately 40 per cent of Stellantis’ electric-vehicle production requirements in North America.

As part of its Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, the company committed to having electric vehicles make up more than 50 per cent of its U.S. and Canadian sales by the end of the decade.

In total, the plant’s building footprint will span 4.23 million square-feet including ancillary structures – equivalent in size to approximately eight Rogers Centre stadiums in Toronto.

Construction of the plant is being managed by Alberici-Barton Malow (A-BM) JV, a joint venture comprised of Alberici and Barton Malow.