Port Colborne Lithium-ion Battery Separator Plant | ?m | 1s | Asahi Kasei

[Towered]

So the question becomes, "Why Welland?" now. >.<

The influx of jobs and economic activity can only help that hurtin' city!

 

[innsertnamehere]

With the announcement of this plant, I am interested to see if the province will now be looking to potentially extend HWY 406 south along the HWY 140 ROW.

I doubt it. MTO just built a roundabout on 140 just north of this site and it wasn't designed as a 4-lane roundabout, which tells me that MTO has no significant plans to upgrade 140 any time soon. Which is honestly kind of surprising as AADT on the highway is in the 10-14,000 range.. which while not crazy high, is high enough that MTO would usually be thinking about a long-term upgrade.

Also, extending the 406 southwards would be crazy expensive to get it across the Welland Canal, unless they could find a way to reuse the existing tunnel somehow. Doing that would likely involve some extremely substandard curves on the highway though which is tough.

 

[cd concept]

With the announcement of this plant, I am interested to see if the province will now be looking to potentially extend HWY 406 south along the HWY 140 ROW.

I guess they will in due time. Not only is this parcel of land strategically locatied next to the canal to the west for shipping purposes. I think the rail line to the north of the property that runs underneath the canal for freight purposes. Could also potentially run the future Mid Peninsula Corridor highway beside the railway for vehicular services . That will eventually connect the city of Hamilton to the town of Fort Erie via Buffalo New York some day! This is why I think the choice to build here make more sense than you think lol!

 

[innsertnamehere]

Ontario Newsroom

news.ontario.ca

Asahi Kasei Breaks Ground on Electric Vehicle Battery Separator Plant in Port Colborne​

PORT COLBORNE — The Ontario government is welcoming the start of construction on Asahi Kasei’s $1.7 billion manufacturing facility in Port Colborne to produce lithium-ion battery separators, a key component of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The new plant, the first of its kind in Canada, is a significant part of Ontario’s growing end-to-end EV and battery supply chain, accelerating the production of Ontario-made EVs and creating better jobs with bigger paycheques in the Niagara Region.
"The start of construction on Asahi Kasei’s battery separator plant is a major step forward in building Ontario’s electric vehicle supply chain, connecting minerals in the north with electric vehicle battery makers and automakers across the province,” said Premier Doug Ford. “This facility will help lay the groundwork to produce electric vehicles from start to finish by Ontario workers with Ontario-made components, bringing better jobs and bigger paycheques to communities across the province.”
The start of construction closely follows the recent announcement of a joint venture between Asahi Kasei and Honda Canada Inc. that will be established to oversee construction and production activities at the Port Colborne plant.