Asahi Kasei Corporation has broken ground on its new lithium-ion battery separator facility in Port Colborne in Ontario, Canada. The plant will be operated as a joint venture with Honda and is expected to begin production in 2027.
The ceremony was held on November 14 and witnessed by several government officials as well as Asahi Kasei and Honda executives. The facility is expected to create more than 300 full-time jobs in the first phase, and it will have the capacity to produce approximately 700,000,000m2 of coated lithium-ion battery separator per year.
The coated battery separator is a crucial part of the battery as it keeps the positive and negative electrodes from touching, preventing short circuits, while enabling lithium ions to pass through, allowing energy to be stored. The project will move into construction phases in the coming months, including structural development and utility connections to support the building.
Koshiro Kudo, president and representative director of Asahi Kasei Corporation, said, “We are establishing a center of excellence here in Port Colborne that will further position Asahi Kasei as a leader in meeting the growing demand for electric vehicle battery separators across North America, helping drive the energy transition forward with cutting-edge technology.”
The Port Colborne plant will effectively be Canada’s first large-scale wet-process separator facility. Asahi Kasei has already started local hiring, with more than five employees supporting the project’s startup phase. In September, the brand held a community open house to educate the community to about the project and upcoming career opportunities.
