A company building a $202 million graphite processing plant in Coosa County has announced a deal to supply the material for an electric vehicle battery maker. 

Westwater Resources has announced a joint development agreement with SK On, a South Korean electric vehicle battery manufacturer for Ford, Hyundai, Volkswagen and others. 

Westwater Resources and its subsidiary, Alabama Graphite Products, have begun building the plant in Kellyton, in the Lake Martin Regional Industrial Park, off U.S. 280 near Alexander City. When the project was announced last year, it expected to hire at least 100 people. 

Still to come is another agreement to allow for the sale of potentially all graphite anode material from the Kellyton Graphite Processing Plant. 

“The (agreement) with SK On is another major advancement in Westwater’s graphite business, and we are extremely excited to partner with a leading global battery manufacturer,” Westwater Executive Chairman Terence Cryan said. “Following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, many battery manufacturers have sought to secure North American anode material from our Kellyton plant.” 

The Coosa County plant will process raw graphite into about 7,500 metric tons of refined, battery-grade graphite each year, for use in batteries that power EVs, electronics and other products. 

Westwater Resources said last year that batteries found in an average electric vehicle need about 175 to 200 pounds of graphite. There are currently no producers of natural-grade graphite in the U.S. for these products. 

Sun Heeyoung, SK On’s vice president in charge of advanced research, said the agreement will “continue to strengthen our materials supply chain in North America and ensure we can help meet the increasing demand for electric vehicles in the U.S.”