Jacksonville, Fla. — Saft, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-tech industrial batteries, has inaugurated its advanced automated lithium-ion battery factory in Jacksonville, Florida. The 235,000-square-foot factory has an annual sales capacity of $300 million to meet growing demand for high-performance energy storage solutions.
The high-volume, state-of-the-art production facility is Saft’s 16th facility worldwide. It’s dedicated to building advanced lithium-ion cells and batteries for renewable energy, smart grid support, broadband back-up power, transportation and defense applications.
Touting several technical innovations, the Florida facility produces 1 megawatt of solar power from the largest rooftop photovoltaic system in Florida, and the fully-automated, flexible production lines are capable of building multi new-generation Li-ion technologies.
Saft received incentives from the state of Florida and the city of Jacksonville to build the plant. Construction also was funded by a $95.5 million federal grant from the Department of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.