Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing, a subsidiary of e-Storage, plan to build a new facility in Shelby County, Kentucky — a project that represents the largest jobs announcement in the Commonwealth in more than two years. The nearly $712 million project is expected to create 1,572 skilled, high-tech jobs. e-Storage, based in Ontario, Canada, is a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and integration of battery energy storage systems for utility-scale applications.
“We are proud to be a part of the growing energy technology transformation across the U.S., and we are thrilled to announce our investment in a new, state-of-the-art industrial battery cell, module and packaging plant in Shelbyville, Kentucky that will employ over 1,500 Kentuckians,” said Colin Parkin, President of e-Storage. “This new plant will allow us to provide our U.S. customers with cutting-edge, American-made battery energy storage products.”
The President and CEO of Shelby Energy, Jack Bragg, said the project will have a major impact on the region: “We are so excited to welcome Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing into our Shelby Energy and Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives family. From the company’s initial visits to Shelbyville, we knew right away that the synergies and timings associated with the project were aligning to help bring this transformational project to fruition in Shelby County.”
“I want to thank Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing for their investment in Kentucky and the Shelbyville community,” said Governor Andy Beshear. “This is the single largest investment and job creation announcement we have on record for Shelby County, and it is the largest project Kentucky has seen this year. This project will solidify our role as a leader in the country’s energy storage sector and will transform our economy, creating opportunities for Kentucky families for generations.”
The project will establish a state-of-the-art, 6-gigawatt hour battery cell, module and packaging manufacturing facility in a 1 million-square-foot building located on Logistics Drive in Shelbyville. These self-contained energy storage systems will be packaged into modular, containerized utility-scale batteries. Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing will support e-Storage’s growing U.S. energy storage business and deliver energy storage solutions to customers throughout the United States.
The investment adds to Kentucky’s significant growth in battery-related production. The addition of utility-scale energy storage production represents further investment in emerging technologies and diversification of Kentucky’s battery-related industries.
Shelby County Industrial and Development Foundation President and CEO Ray Leathers mentioned the impact of the project: “Shelby County Industrial & Development Foundation is proud and excited to welcome Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing to our community, becoming our largest industrial employer ever! Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing has unquestionably established Shelby County, along with our 84 other industries, as a national commerce center at the crossroads of America.”
Production at the Shelbyville plant is expected to begin by the end of 2025.
