Saft announced early this morning that it has opened its advanced automated lithium-ion battery factory in the Cecil Commerce Center.
Saft is a global designer and manufacturer of high-tech industrial batteries.
“I am delighted that our most advanced facility ever is now ready to serve our customers who are demanding ever higher performance energy storage solutions. Saft’s strategy is to actively address these new opportunities with our latest generation lithium-ion technology,” said Saft CEO John Searle.
This high-volume production facility in West Jacksonville builds advanced lithium-ion cells and batteries for energy storage for renewable energy, smart grid support, broadband backup power, transportation and defense.
The company said Saft Jacksonville has an annual sales capacity of $300 million and will meet growing customer demand for high performance, competitive energy storage solutions and will play an important part in the development of the new-energy economy.
It is designed to hire about 300 employees.
Saft received City and state incentives to build the plant, and construction of the 235,000-square-foot facility was further funded by a $95.5 million federal grant from the Department of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Saft, based in Paris, was founded in 1918 and operates in 18 countries, with 16 company-owned production sites and three joint ventures. Total employment is about 4,000 people.
The announcement quoted Mayor Alvin Brown. “Having a renowned international company such as Saft choose Jacksonville is a major step in building the economy of tomorrow,” Brown said in the news release.
“The new plant gives us high-tech jobs to help put Jacksonville back to work and is a great example of the good that can come from the public and private sectors working together,” he said.