The heads of Canadian Energies Ltd. were in Chatham on Friday to share more details about their clean energy manufacturing campus proposed for Chatham-Kent (CK).
However, the multiple sites are confidential at the moment and they were non-committal about timelines.
Canadian Energies Ltd. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Garvin said he would like to have the $2 billion campus with an assembly line and storage system up and running tomorrow, but the regulatory process is complicated and takes time.
Garvin said the plant would be built in phases over multiple sites starting with the sodium-ion battery energy storage systems.
"This factory we're trying to built is not for one or two years, it's something we will be able to work for years and years. We're trying to build an entire ecosystem. So, we need skilled people to work with us," said Garvin.
He noted the facility would be new and state-of-the-art and would not be built on farmland.
Garvin is confident they have everything they need in CK from workforce to raw materials with nearby Windsor Salt.
He added they've had overwhelming response from investors, but wouldn't say how much money has been secured.
Garvin said nobody else has their sodium-ion technology, which he said is the best in the world.
Garvin told the media the planning has taken nearly two years and is confident the campus will be a benchmark for the world.
"The first thing is to create the economic engine inside the community where we can build some great quality workforce here. We are trying to build this a capital of North America in terms of green and clean technology," Garvin noted.
He said there's already high demand for his products and it will be good for the economy.
Garvin also envisions a research and development (R and D) facility along with a centre of excellence down the road to complete the "ecosystem" he wants to achieve.
"We will be continually working on the R and D to build something maybe 100 years from now. You need that particular backup as an R and D in terms of taking care of the entire existing manufacturing. So, we will be setting up that," he added.
Garvin said he's serious about the campus being here to stay and is moving his family from Toronto to Chatham.
The company's lawyer said the municipal people in the know had to sign non-disclosure agreements preventing them from sharing details, which is company policy, and that's why there's limited information available at the council level.
