[THE INVESTOR] SK Innovation said on Sept. 9 that it has completed the construction of a battery production line at its plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province.

The new facility has increased the total battery manufacturing capacity from 0.8GWh to 1GWh, which can power around 40,000 pure electric cars, according to the Korean firm.

The production facility will be fully operational after a series of test runs. 

The battery business arm of SK Group is the third largest player in the Korean electric vehicle battery market after LG Chem and Samsung SDI.

Aiming to become a “dark horse,” in the global battery market, SK Innovation is currently planning to build a battery manufacturing plant in China this year.

“The Chinese plant will serve as a stepping stone for SK Innovation to become a dark horse in the global EV battery segment,” said Jeong Cheong-gil, chief executive of the firm, at a recent media event.

The firm’s batteries have been mounted on 20,000 EV units last year and the figure is expected to reach 30,000 soon.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com