A fire broke out at SK on’s electric vehicle battery factory in China, which was in the process of preparing for operation.
According to SK on on Nov. 21, a blaze erupted at the company’s second factory in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, China. The facility was in the midst of preparations for operation, aiming for a start in the second quarter of the upcoming year. The incident occurred on Nov. 20 at around 2:50 pm (local time), and the fire was successfully brought under control by 6 pm. No casualties were reported.
An SK on official stated, “We are currently in the process of rapid recovery operations, and the damage is limited as the facility installation has not been fully completed. Although detailed information can only be ascertained through a thorough investigation, there should be no issues for mass production in the second quarter of next year.”
Independent of this incident, SK on is currently operating the Yancheng 1 factory, a joint venture with the Chinese battery manufacturer EVE Energy Co., with an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours (GWh).
The Yancheng 2 factory, where the recent fire occurred, is planned to be operated independently, not as a joint venture. The production capacity of the new facility is expected to exceed 10 GWh a year, making it the largest SK on battery factory in China. SK on had previously announced an investment of approximately 3 trillion won in 2021 for the establishment of the Yancheng 2 factory.
In addition to the Yancheng factories, SK on is also operating joint venture factories in China, including facilities in Changzhou with a capacity of 7 GWh and Huizhou with a capacity of 10 GWh.