South Dakota Beats Out Texas for $300 Million Battery Plant

A South Dakota city has beaten out a Texas city nearly 30 times bigger for a battery manufacturing plant.

Rapid City (population 80,000) has landed the AEsir Technologies Incorporated facility, which had been seriously considering San Antonio (population 2.3 million) as the site its $300 million plant

The San Antonio Business Journal is reporting that the company, which is owned by Joplin, Missouri-based ZAF Energy, decided to bring its plant to South Dakota's second-largest city thanks to the state helping to raise the funding for the project.

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Phase one of the construction of the plant is expected to cost about $250 million and could create up to 400 new jobs.

When the facility is finished it could cost as much as $300 million and bring in as many as 1,500 jobs.

The plant is expected to produce nearly 2 billion watt-hours of batteries annually. Those batteries would then be used to support data center and 5G network markets, providing backup power to prevent data loss or service interruption during power outages.

According to the article, AEsir President and CEO Randy Moore said the economic package offered by South Dakota officials was 'significantly superior to what was being offered elsewhere. competitors put on the table.

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Source: South Dakota Beats Out Texas for $300 Million Battery Plant