The Augusta Planning Commission has approved a special exception to allow plans for a massive battery manufacturing facility at the former Proctor and Gamble plant on Mike Padgett Highway which may eventually employ 1,000 people.
The vote, held at the July 1 meeting, was unanimous.
The petition was made by Stryten Energy, LLC, headquartered in Alpharetta, to amend the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance to allow for the receiving, storage, and processing of sulfuric acid.
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According to Scott Childers, vice president of the Central Power Division of Stryten Energy, the company already makes electric vehicle batteries and has contracts with the U.S. government building specialized batteries for submarines, Humvees and other armed personnel carriers.
In Augusta, the company plans to expand to making vanadium redox flow batteries, which are known as “grid” batteries that service commercial buildings, allowing those companies to “go off the grid,” by employing the rechargeable batteries.
According to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the flow battery is composed of two tanks of electrolyte solutions that combine to create a renewable electric charge. The smallest of the finished batteries the company plans to produce are the size of an average shipping container.
One concern of the commission was the safety involved in transporting the chemicals to the site, citing the 2005 train collision in nearby Graniteville, which released a cloud of chlorine that killed nine and sent 250 people to the hospital for treatment.
Childers told the commission that sulfuric acid is the same chemical found in automotive batteries and is nowhere near as dangerous as chlorine gas; as long as the chemical is not consumed, it only causes minor skin irritation upon contact.
“We have to constantly stay on our employees to properly wear personal protection equipment because sometimes the PPEs can be more bothersome than coming into contact with the acid. You certainly do not want to get it in your eyes, and we would take any spill seriously, but water causes the acid to become inert,” Childers said.
The battery manufacturing industry has exploded in Georgia in recent years. According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, EV battery production alone is a multi-billion dollar industry that employs over 83,000 people statewide.
Childers says that Stryten Energy’s plan for Augusta will happen in three stages; stage one will employ 20 – 100 people, stage two will add 300 jobs and stage three will swell the workforce to 1,000 people by the end of the decade.
Cal Wray, president of the Development Authority of Augusta, says that Stryten Energy’s interest in Augusta shows that this city, and its workforce, remains on the cutting edge of technological progress.
“This company has a great track record, they are headquartered in the state and we think this will be a good addition to our industrial community,” Wray said.
The company has held a community meeting and Childers said that the response from the community was positive and no one issued any complaints.
The special exemption still must go before the Augusta Commission and Wray says he is confident commissioners will have the same stance as the Planning Commission.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
