E-One Moli has paused a $1-billion lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing plant project in the Vancouver suburb of Maple Ridge, B.C.

The plant is slated to be located near E-One Moli’s existing operations in Maple Ridge. Construction was slated to start in late 2023 or early 2024, and the facility was expected to be fully operational in 2027.

E-One Moli, also known as Molicel, is the Canadian subsidiary of a similarly named Taiwanese company owned by Taiwan Cement Corp.

Taiwan Cement Chairman Nelson Chang has been quoted in a statement as saying that the plant project has stopped as the company focuses on production at its Taiwanese lithium-ion battery cell plant.

Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy is confident that the project will still proceed.

“It’s not really the bad news everyone thinks it is – they’re not cancelling; they’re just putting it on pause,” he told the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.

The federal and B.C. governments agreed in 2023 to invest $284.5 million in the project. Ottawa is slated to provide $204.5 million through its Net Zero Accelerator Fund while the province has pledged to kick in $80 million, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office announced. E-One Moli and private sources are slated to supply the remaining funds, according to a B.C. government news release.

A spokeswoman from federal Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne’s office told the Canadian Press in a statement that E-One Moli has advised the ministry of its decision. No federal funds have been disbursed yet, and Ottawa is “keeping a close eye on the situation.”

If it goes ahead, the project will create up to 350 new jobs and secure 100 existing ones, according to Trudeau’s office.

The province said previousy that the plant would be the first of its kind in Western Canada and create a new hub in the global battery-component supply chain. The battery cells are slated to be used in products ranging from consumer electronics to medical equipment.

Photo: E-One Moli