Adedokun Waliyu 
A binding agreement to save Windsor’s $5-billion battery plant has been signed, ensuring Windsor becomes a North American battery powerhouse.
Following weeks of speculation, Stellantis and LG Energy Solution in a joint statement late Wednesday afternoon announced they’d signed an agreement that secures the future of battery cell and module production at the NextStar Energy plant.
The agreement, the statement said, honours the commitments made by the Canadian government to “level the playing field” with the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The deal will provide up to $15 billion in performance incentives from Canada and Ontario for the new Windsor plant.
“The IRA fundamentally changed the landscape for battery production in North America, making it challenging to produce competitively priced, state-of-the-art batteries in Canada without an equivalent level of support from government,” said Mark Stewart, chief operating officer for Stellantis in North America.
“We are pleased that the federal government with the support of the provincial government came back and met their commitment of levelling the playing field with the IRA. This collective effort enabled the deal to close and we are now resuming construction on the site in Windsor.”
The joint venture, Stewart said, is “very grateful to the governments for their leadership to resolve and bring this deal to fruition,” as well as to Unifor national president Lana Payne and her team “for tirelessly advocating alongside us in our shared commitment to protecting thousands of new jobs.”
Uncertainty over the battery plant erupted in May when Stellantis and LG Energy Solutions went public with criticism of the federal government for allegedly not living up to subsidy promises made to the companies. The firms were seeking subsidies similar to what they would receive under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Sources close to the deal told the Star the joint venture will receive $15 billion in financial support as a result of Wednesday’s agreement. The provincial government will cover one third of that total.
Effective immediately, with the agreement’s signing, all construction at the NextStar plant will resume, with production operations planned to launch in 2024. The plant aims to have an annual production capacity in excess of 45 gigawatt hours and will create at least 2,500 direct jobs and thousands more spin-off jobs.
Reacting to news of the deal, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens told the Star this was a “good day” for the city and Essex County.
“This was a story about the whole community coming together and pushing all of the buttons and pulling all of the levers that they had to pull to make sure everyone at every level of government understood what was at stake,” Dilkens said.
The uncertainty, he said, was “very concerning” to city council.
“Everyone who’s watching this understands the importance of this type of investment — when you say $5 billion and 3,000 jobs, pretty much you can stop there,” Dilkens said.
The agreement will ensure Stellantis makes Windsor its North American hub of electric vehicle research and development. The automaker will also construct a 100,000-square-foot battery lab at its Windsor Automotive Research and Development Centre and add 650 engineering jobs at the facility.
