US deputy secretary welcomes SK-Ford battery partnership

David Turk, deputy secretary at the US Department of Energy, visited the construction site of BlueOval SK in Stanton, Tennessee, a joint venture of SK On and Ford Motor Co., the South Korean battery maker said Monday.

“BlueOval SK is a project that shows fantastic partnership among the US government, SK On, Ford and BlueOval SK,” Turk said during a meeting with SK On, Ford Motor and SK BlueOval executives and US government officials on Thursday.

“I think this is a phenomenal example of partnership between public and private sectors," he said, adding he was grateful for the "federal government’s efforts for supporting local communities.”

Turk was visiting Tennessee after the Department of Energy greenlighted conditional approval for a loan of up to $9.2 billion for the construction of three battery manufacturing plants – one in Tennessee and two in Kentucky -- for electric vehicles produced by Ford.

Turk stressed that the loan is at the largest scale ever under the US Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program run by the Energy Department. It is also the biggest single financial commitment from the Biden administration as part of its push to create an EV ecosystem in the US.

Accompanied by Jigar Shah, loan programs office director at the US Department of Energy, the deputy secretary met with BlueOval SK CEO Robert Rhee, Kim Kyung-hun, chief financial officer at SK On, Dave Webb, treasurer at Ford Motor, Stanton Mayor Allan Sterbinsky and other executives.

“It’s just so exciting to see a facility of this size, this magnitude here in the US,” Turk said after looking around the construction site.

“As cool as the facilities are, the impact -- what this means to the community, families and workers -- is the biggest takeaway I got.”

Before joining the energy department, Turk worked in several key posts linked to clean energy, including deputy secretary-general at the International Atomic Energy Agency and deputy special envoy for climate change at the US Department of State.

The three BlueOval SK plants will together boast an annual production capacity of more than 120 gigawatt-hours and replace more than 1.72 billion liters of gasoline per year from going into internal combustion engines. The plants are slated to begin operation in 2025.

The project is expected to create approximately 5,000 constructions jobs in Tennessee and Kentucky, and 7,500 operations jobs once the plants are up and running, according to the Energy Department.

“It is unusual for a senior official in charge of US policy loans to have visited after approving the loan. This shows the US government’s keen interest in BlueOval SK and the commitment toward electrification of the nation’s auto industry,” said a source close to the matter on condition of anonymity.