The Saft lithium-ion battery factory formally opened Friday in West Jacksonville with 100 employees and plans for 200 more over the next two years.
“This is a winner,” said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.
The 235,000-square-foot facility on 11.8 acres was built using $95.5 million from a Department of Energy grant that was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, matching $95.5 million from Saft and about $20 million in incentives from the City and state.
Grant money has come under fire recently after Solyndra LLC, a California-based manufacturer of cylindrical solar systems for commercial rooftops, received $535 million from the stimulus and is seeking relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
It has suspended operations while it considers its options and the shutdown resulted in the layoff of 1,100 full-time and temporary employees.
“None of this would have happened without the $95 million grant from the Department of Energy. What you have been reading about is the negative about grants,” said Nelson.
“This most recent story about Solyndra, they got a Department of Energy grant and they went belly up. But today we celebrate one of those grants that came from the stimulus bill that is going to set this part of Jacksonville off on a new course,” he said.
Nelson envisions the new battery plant attracting other businesses to AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center.
“That fact that it is here means industries of like mind will come here,” said Nelson.
Mayor Alvin Brown said Saft wasn’t just bringing jobs, but quality jobs.
“This project adds nearly 300 jobs when Jacksonville needs them the most. They are good jobs. They are part of a brain economy that is so crucial in taking this City to the next level,” said Brown.
“This is a major step in developing AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center,” he said.
The plant is Saft’s 16th manufacturing facility worldwide and is projected to have an annual sales capacity of $300 million.
Its products can be used to power satellites, electric vehicles and help store electricity from solar or wind farms.
“When you watch the weather report, you are likely receiving information from a satellite powered by a Saft battery. When certain classified programs are providing special information to protect our national security, it may be they are running on electrical power that is coming from a Saft battery,” said Nelson. “As we look to the future of revolutionizing transportation, shifting from fossil fuels to electric batteries, it is very likely that batteries made or designed in this facility are going to be part of that future.”
Saft not only manufactures batteries to make other systems more efficient, it also wants to make its own systems more efficient.
The rooftop of the plant holds the largest photovoltaic system in Florida, producing up to 1.02 megawatts through 4,340 solar modules.
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