U.S. Secretary of Transportation Visits SK On Battery Plant: "Creating the Future"

Secretary Pete Buttigieg Visits Site of America's Largest
'BlueOvalSK Kentucky' Construction Project

Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation (right), is touring the construction site of the 'BlueOvalSK Kentucky' battery plant located in Glendale, Kentucky, USA, on the 3rd (local time) with Lisa Drake Ford, Vice President (left), Jonghan Lee, CEO of BlueOvalSK (second from left), and local construction company officials. Photo by U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visited the largest battery production facility in the United States being built jointly by SK On and Ford, calling it an “advanced manufacturing facility” and expressing high expectations. This marks the first time since his appointment that Secretary Buttigieg has visited a project site where a domestic battery company is investing.

On the 3rd, Secretary Buttigieg toured the construction site of ‘BlueOvalSK Kentucky’ located in Glendale, Kentucky, and held a meeting with executives and employees. Attendees included Lee Jong-han, CEO of BlueOvalSK, Lisa Drake, Ford’s Vice President of Electric Vehicle Industrialization, other SK On and Ford officials, as well as Jeff Noel, Kentucky Secretary of Economic Development, and other state government representatives.

Secretary Buttigieg stated, “Once completed, this will be one of the largest battery manufacturing facilities in the world,” adding, “The people working here are not just building a factory; they are creating livelihoods and futures.”

He continued, “I am very pleased with the efforts of partners like Kentucky, SK, and Ford in advancing this project,” expressing gratitude to those involved.

Buttigieg, who made a splash during the Democratic primary in the last U.S. presidential election, was appointed as the youngest-ever Secretary of Transportation at age 39 when the Joe Biden administration began in 2021. Since taking office, he has consistently promoted policies to revitalize the U.S. electric vehicle market, including expanding EV charging infrastructure.

The ‘BlueOvalSK Kentucky’ facility visited by Secretary Buttigieg is one of the battery campuses being built by BlueOvalSK, a joint venture between South Korea’s leading battery company SK On and U.S. automaker Ford. Situated on a 6.28 million square meter (1.9 million pyeong) site, it will house two battery plants with an annual production capacity of 43GWh. Its official name is ‘BlueOvalSK Battery Park.’

The total capacity of 86GWh represents the largest battery production scale on a single site in the U.S. This capacity is sufficient to produce approximately 820,000 units annually of Ford’s electric pickup truck ‘F-150 Lightning,’ which is equipped with a 105KWh battery.

SK On and Ford launched BlueOvalSK in July last year with the ambition to lead electrification in the North American automotive market. The two companies plan to invest a total of $11.4 billion to build three battery plants across two locations: Glendale, Kentucky, and Stanton, Tennessee, aiming for a total production capacity of 129GWh.

Although the groundbreaking ceremony for ‘BlueOvalSK Kentucky’ was held in December last year, actual construction began in the second half of the year, with significant progress already made in site preparation and steel frame work. Once completed, Plant 1 will undergo equipment stabilization, commissioning, and product certification processes before starting mass production of battery cells in 2025, while Plant 2 is scheduled to begin production in 2026. Batteries produced here will be installed in Ford and Lincoln brand electric vehicle models.

BlueOvalSK also contributes to expanding the domestic battery ecosystem. Over 90% of the equipment used in the BlueOvalSK plant is Korean-made.

SK On has focused on increasing the localization rate of equipment used in its domestic and overseas battery plants. For example, 96% of the equipment at SK On’s U.S. plant in Georgia is Korean-made.

Meanwhile, ‘BlueOvalSK Kentucky’ is the largest private economic development project in Kentucky’s history, expected to employ more than 5,000 people. According to a recent joint study by the Kentucky League of Cities and Murray State University, the economic ripple effect of ‘BlueOvalSK Kentucky’ is estimated at $800 million annually.

To train local workers, a 3,900 square meter (1,180 pyeong) ‘Elizabethtown Community & Technical College (ECTC) BlueOvalSK Training Center’ will be established on the Kentucky campus. Scheduled to open in 2024, this facility will provide employees with training on work simulations, quality control, and manufacturing processes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.