A deal has finally been reached to save Windsor's electric-vehicle battery plant.
According to a media release late Wednesday afternoon from LG Energy Solutions, NextStar Energy, the joint venture between LG and automaker Stellantis, a deal has been reached to resume full construction at the east-end site.
Full construction will resume immediately. Work had continued on a portion of the site throughout the impasse.
No details were immediately released, but Stellantis said the agreement reflects the commitments made by Ottawa for the automaker to sign onto the project.
"We are pleased that the federal government, with the support of the provincial government, came back and met their commitment of leveling the playing field with the IRA [U.S. Inflation Reduction Act]," said Stellantis North America COO Mark Stewart. "This collective effort enabled the deal to close and we are now resuming construction on the site in Windsor. We are very grateful to the governments for their leadership to resolve and bring this deal to fruition, as well as Lana Payne and her team from Unifor, for tirelessly advocating alongside us in our shared commitment to protecting thousands of new jobs as we achieve our electrified future propelled by our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan."
Payne expressed relief over the agreement early Wednesday evening.
"We would like to thank Prime Minister Trudeau, Premier Doug Ford, and the company for reaching this important conclusion and taking the necessary action to secure the Stellantis production footprint in Canada," said Payne in a media release.
The development had been in jeopardy since the Toronto Star first reported in May that Stellantis was considering pulling out of the project due to concerns about incentives promised by the federal government.
Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk, whose riding includes the plant site, had been hinting throughout the month of June that a deal was close.
"These are normal negotiations, tough negotiations, because of what is at stake, because of the scale of the investments," he explained on June 1. "The community and the public got a chance to see, tough negotiations, what they are like."
Construction remains on track for the facility to open sometime in 2024.
