Vianode to build $3.2-billion graphite plant for EVs in southwestern Ontario
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/11/2025 (283 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Norwegian company is investing $3.2 billion to build a synthetic graphite plant in southwestern Ontario.
Vianode CEO Burkhard Straube says it will construct the plant in St. Thomas, Ont., and will initially create 300 jobs and ramp up to 1,000 jobs once the plant is operating at full capacity.
Straube says synthetic graphite is the biggest component by weight in electric vehicle batteries, but is also essential for nuclear reactors and defence systems.
Volkswagen’s battery company, PowerCo, has recently broken ground on its massive gigafactory in St. Thomas, though Straube would not comment on any possible deals with the automaker.
Premier Doug Ford says the province is providing a $670-million loan to Vianode.
Ford says electric vehicles are the way of the future — though the market has slowed considerably, with Honda announcing a delay in building its $15-billion battery plant in Alliston, Ont., and Umicore pausing its construction of a $2.7-billion EV battery plant in Kingston, Ont.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2025.