A member of City Council says infrastructure will be critical to support a new $5-billion dollar electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor.
The plant will be built on a 220-acre site on Twins Oaks Drive near Banwell Road, just off the EC Row Expressway. It's an area in Windsor's Ward 9, which is represented by Councillor Kieran McKenzie.
McKenzie says major investments will be required as infrastructure will be critical, not just to support the plant, but there are other parts of Ward 9 where expect there will be opportunities to site some of the feeder plants.
He says they're going to have to evaluate the traffic impacts for example.
"The corner of Banwell and EC Row is going to require some major investments, Lauzon Parkway, the Sandwich Southlands, we're going major, major investments in order to support those investments coming forward from the private sector," says McKenzie.
LG Energy Solution and Stellantis announced the joint venture Wednesday to produce leading edge lithium-ion battery cells and modules to meet a significant portion of Stellantis’ vehicle production requirements in North America.
McKenzie says there's other parts of Ward 9 where they expect there will be opportunities to site some of the feeder plants that will supply the materials.
"I know people from all across the region are going to benefit from all of this. But again from that infrastructure stand point, specifically in the ward itself, the geography of this, it's going to be impactful for the people who live and work in this part of the community," he adds.
Plant construction activities are scheduled to begin later this year, with production operations planned to launch in the first quarter of 2024.
The facility will be operational by 2025, employing 2,500 people.
With files from Rob Hindi