Syensqo broke ground on its future battery-grade polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) facility in Augusta, Georgia.

When complete, the site will be the largest PVDF production facility in North America, supplying the growing needs of domestic energy storage markets. A significant milestone in Syensqo’s global electrification strategy, this facility will help create battery materials needed to unlock economy-wide electrification and electric vehicle (EV) adoption. PVDF is a thermoplastic fluoropolymer that is used as a lithium-ion binder and separator coating in batteries. Specifically, the new site will produce Solef, Syensqo’s signature PVDF product, which enables EVs to go farther on each charge, extends battery life and improves battery safety.

The site is estimated to produce enough PVDF for more than 5 million EV batteries per year at full capacity, or 45 percent of expected PVDF demand required by 2030, creating a new and reliable supply for the rapidly growing U.S. EV battery market, as well as hundreds of jobs throughout the value chain.

The Augusta plant is a collaboration between Syensqo and Orbia, which provides a secure supply of key minerals and intermediate materials needed to manufacture PVDF, such as hydrofluoric acid and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). The collaboration will fill the PVDF supply gap, leverage favorable regulatory conditions to promote regional production and material safety, and build a strong, safe and local PVDF supply chain.