Anovion Technologies has selected a site for its $800 million large-scale production facility.
Anovion, which makes synthetic graphite for battery applications at its Sanborn location, will build the 1.5 million-square-foot facility in Decatur County in Southwest Georgia.
The company spent the last six months looking for a site for the plant, which is expected to produce 40,000 metric tons of product to support customers in the electric vehicle space. (New York was not in the running for Anovion's large-scale production site, because the company wanted a facility in the south, close to electric vehicle manufacturers and other battery plants in that region.)
Bainbridge, Georgia, won out for its proximity to battery supply chains and access to clean energy power sources and existing rail infrastructure.
“Not only does existing infrastructure make Southwest Georgia an attractive location for Anovion’s new facility, but the proximity to other battery and EV manufacturing plants will allow us to further reduce our carbon footprint,” Anovion CEO Eric Stopka said.
Other factors included the timeframe for preparing the site and population. At full capacity, the plant is expected to create 400 jobs.
“It’s not just one factor that effects our ability to compete,” Stopka said. “We looked at how far from the site the population was and if we’d have enough workers within 30 minutes of the plant. That was an important part of our decision, and we feel there’s sufficient population to fill those immediate workforce demands.”
Stopka said the company had a list of about 15 states that fit the profile of an ideal location for the plant. To narrow the search, the company collected important data and information to put into a scorecard before conducting site visits and meeting with communities. Georgia was one of four states on the short list.
The search for a site began in the fourth quarter of last year, when Anovion was awarded a $117 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, designed to establish a domestic battery supply chain for the EV industry.
Stopka said that while Anovion committed to spending $800 million on the Georgia plant, a portion of the federal grant is earmarked for the company’s Sanborn operations, which will be Anovion’s Center of Excellence and primary research and development site.
Stopka said the Center of Excellence with be vital to the company's mission to find innovative and sustainable ways to supply batteries for an electrified future.
“From continued research and development in electrochemistry to technology improvements in our production process and our ambitious climate tech initiatives, our goal is to become carbon-neutral over time, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately position Anovion as the climate tech leader of the future,” said Chip Dunn, executive chairman of Anovion, in a news release.
Stopka said operations at the new Georgia facility are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025 and “reach full production capacity in 2026.”
He said that while the company’s “attention will be on getting this plant up and running,” the “ultimate goal is to reach production of 150,000 metric tons by 2030,” meaning the company will likely be building another plant before then.