NEO Battery Materials Ltd. has been revealed as the first of three plants worth about $700 million in investment that will create about 1,300 jobs when all are fully operational.
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Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens identified NEO Battery Materials, at a press conference Thursday afternoon at the Invest WindsorEssex Automobility and Innovation Centre.
The Canadian battery materials company focuses on specialized coatings and developing silicon anode materials for lithium-ion batteries for use in electric vehicles, electronics and energy storage systems. The company’s patented manufacturing process lowers costs, extends battery range and reduces charging time.
The company will build both manufacturing and research and development facilities at its new home on the Windsor Airport lands.
The plant will be the first of its kind in Canada and is expected to cost about $100 million and create 130 jobs.
The project will be built in three phases with the first of those expected to start later this year and be completed in the second half of 2026. The entire project should be done in 2027.
NEO Battery already announced in September it had a memo of understanding with the University of Windsor to partner on research and development.
Earlier this month, NEO Battery announced it was filing a patent for a breakthrough that improved silicon anode performance by 43 to 130 per cent. It also confirmed its intention to move into the space and electric vertical takeoff and landing industries working with solid-state batteries.
In December the company confirmed it had signed a joint development agreement with a North American battery cell manufacturer to develop silicon anode materials for specialty electric automotive and mobility applications.
The other two companies still to be announced are also in the battery/automotive space.
One will make electrolytes for use in batteries for electric vehicles and other electronic components while the third is a major global Tier 1 automotive parts supplier.
Those plants will also be located on the Windsor Airport lands.
Joe Goncalves Invest WindsorEssex’s vice president of investment attraction and strategic initiatives told The Windsor Star that 2024 was a very successful year for Invest WindsorEssex with “more than $600 million in new investment creating close to 2,000 new jobs coming in the pipeline in 2025 and 2026.”
While official announcements of the other two plants haven’t yet been made, construction is already underway at a site for the Tier 1 supplier on the airport property fronting County Road 42.
Sources have confirmed the project is valued at close to $400 million and will create 1,000 jobs.
The first of the three phases of construction is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2026. The entire project is expected to be done in 2028.
Construction of the electrolyte plant, which will cost about $200 million and employ 160, is expected to commence in the first half of the year. The first of the two phases of construction is expected to be completed around the middle of 2026.
Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce interim CEO Tony Haddad said the investments are a vote of confidence in the region.
Haddad said the large investments benefit the entire region and illustrate the need to redouble local efforts to provide the funding, infrastructure and shovel-ready industrial land needed to capitalize on the opportunities that are still in the pipeline.
Haddad noted the benefits to the region won’t be strictly economic. He expects these new economic opportunities will attract more people to Essex County, bringing with them new resources and expertise to the community.
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