Chesterfield County Announced As Site of Future Dupont Plant

The new plant will be the first to manufacture nanofiber-based polymer separators for high-performance lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles. These separators improve safety by allowing lithium ion batteries to operate at higher temperatures, and are estimated to increase power by up to 30 percent. 
 
Governor McDonnell called the project a marvelous opportunity and gave some credit to the federal government in providing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to battery manufacturers around the country. 

McDonnell:  The federal government is putting a big push into this administration into some of the alternative energy technologies as a way of reducing reliance on oil and also having some salient environmental benefits.  
 
DuPont is in the process of hiring approximately 70 construction workers for the project, which they are hoping to complete by early 2011.  Once the facility is operational, they will initially create 11 full-time jobs with the potential for more in the future. 

Tom Powell is President of DuPont Protection Technologies.

Powell:  It’s a relatively small investment to start, but this really is the start.  This is proving the technology.  We believe that if this technology proves out like we think it will, the sky is the limit for where this can go. 

The venture is the continuation of a long tradition for DuPont, which has maintained a corporate presence in Virginia since 1929. 

Craig Carper, WCVE News, Capitol Square