FREYR buys Georgia site for battery plant, sees $1.7 billion initial capital cost

(Reuters) - Luxembourg-based FREYR Battery SA said on Friday it had purchased a site in Coweta County, Georgia for its Giga America battery plant, and projected an initial capital spend of $1.7 billion for the project.

The battery developer, which plans to undertake detailed plant engineering in the coming months, also said it expects to create more than 720 jobs in the region.

The development comes against the backdrop of a string of electric vehicle (EV) and battery announcements in Georgia, which includes SK Innovation's battery unit and Hyundai Motor Co's $5.54 billion EV and battery plant for which the company broke ground last month.

"With the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, we expect U.S. demand for ESS (energy storage system), passenger EV and other electric mobility applications to grow rapidly over the next decade," its Chief Executive Officer Tom Jensen said.

The company also said it was evaluating value accretive upstream and downstream modules and additional cell production lines that are expected to bring its total capital investments to more than $2.6 billion through 2029.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)