Saft Invests U.S. Department of Energy Grant, Breaks Ground on Lithium-Ion Battery Factory in Florida

Saft announced the groundbreaking of its lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery manufacturing plant at Cecil Commerce Center in Jacksonville, Florida. The factory will build advanced Li-ion cells and batteries for military hybrid vehicles, aviation, smart grid support, broadband back-up power and energy storage for renewable energy. The high-volume factory, which is Saft’s 16th wholly-owned facility worldwide and 6th within the United States, will begin production during the second half of 2011, providing additional capacity needed to meet growing customer demand, particularly in renewable energy storage.

John Searle, Saft Group CEO, said, "I am very happy to announce that our latest facility is now under construction. Saft needs this additional capacity for advanced lithium-ion batteries to address our customers’ needs in the very near future. The demand for high-performance, new technology batteries from trusted manufacturers like Saft is increasing rapidly, particularly in emerging applications for energy storage."

The new Saft facility will have a capacity of $300 million in annual sales when it is completed next year.

Saft has benefited from a $95.5 million grant from the Department of Energy for this facility under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as well as incentives from the state of Florida and from the city of Jacksonville.