Asahi Kasei will construct its previously announced integrated lithium-ion battery (LIB) separator plant in Port Colborne, which is in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada. The new manufacturing facility will operate as Asahi Kasei Battery Separator Canada and is expected to create highly skilled, good paying jobs in manufacturing and construction. The start of commercial production is currently slated for 2027.

Koshiro Kudo, President & Representative Director of Asahi Kasei Corporation, who attended for the location announcement event, stated, “As demand for electric vehicles – and the lithium-ion batteries that power them – continues to rise, we are eager to bring the first Hipore™ wet-process lithium-ion separator manufacturing facility to Canada. Backed by the abundant renewable resources, skilled talent and strong local community support here in Port Colborne, we will be able to better serve our partners in the region as well as the broader North American automotive market from this facility.”

The Hipore wet-process separators to be produced at the Port Colborne facility are among the most highly engineered and critical components of LIBs used in EVs and other energy storage applications.

On April 25, 2024, Asahi Kasei announced an initial investment of approximately 180 billion JPY (CAD$ 1.56 billion) to install approximately 700 million square meters of annual Hipore separator capacity at this new Canadian facility.

Asahi Kasei will receive support for the project from the provincial government of Ontario, through its investment attraction agency, Invest Ontario, and will benefit from the federal government’s new Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit (ITC).