EnerVenue, which builds metal-hydrogen batteries for stationary energy storage applications for utility-scale, commercial and residential use, will establish a new manufacturing facility in Shelby County, creating 450 full-time jobs with a $264 million Phase 1 investment with potential for further investment.
“Our skilled workforce and communities working together to foster continued growth have made the economic momentum the commonwealth is experiencing possible. For a company like EnerVenue to come in, invest and create jobs in Shelby County is an exciting next step for our manufacturing and energy storage sectors,” said Gov. Beshear. “I want to thank the company’s leadership and the Shelby County community for making this project possible, and I look forward to the company’s success in Kentucky.”
For the initial phase of the project, EnerVenue will construct a new state-of-the-art 1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility on a 73-acre site located in Shelby County.
The location will become the company’s state-of-the-art manufacturing plant for its Energy Storage Vessels. All aspects of design and process validation, manufacturing and testing will be performed onsite. Across its domestic manufacturing sites, company leaders expect to invest in excess of $1 billion to expand to more than 20 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of annual capacity in subsequent phases.
“As customer interest in EnerVenue’s storage technology soars, we’re excited to significantly scale battery production with our new state-of-the-art gigafactory in Shelby County,” said Jorg Heinemann, CEO at EnerVenue. “Following a nationwide vetting process, Kentucky emerged as the ideal fit to build our new facility. The state and county governments were committed to bringing manufacturing and clean energy jobs to the region, and we look forward to working with them as we build out operations.”
Founded in 2020, EnerVenue builds simple, safe and cost-efficient energy storage products. Based on technology proven by NASA over decades under the most extreme conditions, EnerVenue batteries, called Energy Storage Vessels, are refined and scaled for commercial and utility applications.
EnerVenue’s investment contributes to Kentucky’s position as a national leader in manufacturing, an industry that employs approximately 250,000 Kentuckians across 5,000 operations. Administration-to-date, more than 550 new location and expansion projects within the industry are expected to create nearly 26,000 full-time jobs with over $18.6 billion in new investments.
Shelby County Judge/Executive Dan Ison noted the job creation and industry diversification offered by EnerVenue’s announcement.
“As judge/executive, I will continue to work hard for good balance in Shelby County. We are excited to have new industries and jobs coming to Shelby County,” said Judge Ison.
Shelbyville Mayor H. Troy Ethington welcomed EnerVenue to the area.
“The City of Shelbyville is eager to welcome EnerVenue to Shelby County as a cutting-edge innovator in the clean energy sector,” said Mayor Ethington. “The 450 jobs and multimillion-dollar investment during this initial phase with potential for further growth will benefit not only our community but those surrounding us as well. We are looking forward to creating a great working partnership with them in the future.”
President/CEO of Shelby County Industrial and Development Foundation Ray Leathers showed support for the project.
“EnerVenue has to be the largest employer to ever enter Shelby County, and the largest building at 1 million-square-feet. It’s historic,” said Leathers.
Jack Bragg, president & CEO of Shelby Energy Cooperative, shared his excitement for EnerVenue’s decision to locate in Shelbyville.
“Our entire team at Shelby Energy is excited to see this project locate in Shelby County, further diversifying our industry in the region, especially in the sector of renewable energy storage solutions,” Bragg said.
EnerVenue’s investment and planned job creation furthers recent economic momentum in the commonwealth, as the state builds back stronger from the effects of the pandemic.
For more information on EnerVenue, visit enervenue.com.
A detailed community profile for Shelby County can be viewed here.
