KORE Power, Inc., a lithium-ion battery manufacturer based in Idaho, has officially chosen Yates Construction for its new KOREPlex facility to be built in Buckeye.
According to the announcement by KORE Power, Mississippi-based Yates Construction is an advanced manufacturing design-build company that has been building battery and special use manufacturing facilities for years.
KORE Power Founder and CEO Lindsay Gorrill expressed enthusiasm about the decision.
“Yates Construction brings decades of experience in advanced manufacturing and the battery space, so it is a natural fit,” he said. “We look forward to working together to push our aggressive timeline to get this project underway.”
The facility will include several advanced and automated manufacturing features, including automated cell assembly lines, automated material movement and handling and an automated packaging line.
The KOREplex is designed to produce nearly 60 million battery cells a year and could potentially produce enough power for 3.2 million homes annually, according to KORE. KORE hopes these ambitious production plans will help support a reliable and completely independent U.S. supply chain for lithium-ion batteries.
With this facility, Arizona has a growing reputation as an EV and lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing hub.
KORE notes the company’s focus on building with the environment in mind. The facility will operate with net-zero carbon emissions, relying largely on strategic partnerships. The massive facility will also be fully climate-controlled and will feature a solar-ready employee parking lot.
Construction of the KOREPlex will hopefully start by the end of this year. The companies anticipate that the facility will take about 18 months to complete and will employ around 3,400 workers.