Novonix expansion remains on track
The interior of the Novonix facility on the Chattanooga Westside (Courtesy: Novonix)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- 95 percent of the world’s synthetic graphite is currently produced in China.
One company, whose presence is expanding in Chattanooga, is looking to change that.
In order to achieve this, Novonix is looking to soon reach full production at their Chattanooga Westside facility.
The product they produce, synthetic graphite, is made of petroleum coke, which is leftover petroleum.
This material is made through a multi step process that culminates in the petroleum being heated up in a furnace, and transformed into the material that can be placed in batteries.
The company employs 130 people in Chattanooga, as the company prepares to build a second factory at Enterprise South Industrial Park.
There have been concerns raised about that Enterprise South proposal, which is receiving nearly 45 million dollars in city and county tax breaks.
It would be located near the intersection of Highway 58 and Ferdinand Piech Way.
That resident, Chris Gouday, said, “While not considered a heavy polluter, it is still considered fairly dangerous in a fairly close region. In that region at 8091, which is 7 street numbers down is the elementary school, which is adjacent to the middle school and then the high school. So when I think about my neighborhood at Hunter Village. What happens when a polluter is built behind my house?”
In a response to those concerns, Novonix says that quote, “Our proprietary furnace technology uses clean energy generated by TVA and has a very low emissions profile. The planned Enterprise South facility will be located on an existing, industrial-zoned parcel of land in the Enterprise South Industrial Park.”
They also added that they will have a need for additional space, as they expect the demand of synthetic graphite to be at least 7 times greater in 15 years, especially as batteries for the power grid become more in demand through energy storage systems.
These are expected to help stabilize the power grid, and are batteries for these systems are likely to be more in demand for Novonix than batteries for electric vehicles by the early 2030s.
They say these investments add up to $1.5 billion dollars and over 500 jobs for the Chattanooga area.
They expect the Westside facility to be at full production by the end of 2026.
The timeline for Enterprise South is uncertain and dependant on market factors.
