NextStar Energy begins production on new battery pack line in Windsor

A NextStar Energy battery cell. (Source: NextStar Energy)

NextStar Energy is starting production on a new battery pack manufacturing line at its facility in Windsor.

The move adds a third production stage to the site’s existing cell and module operations, enabling full vertical integration from battery cell to finished pack.

Chief Executive Officer Danies Lee says the market for the energy storage system is growing quite rapidly not only from AI data centres but also from the electricity space.

“We need more power to be produced, and this ESS system is the quickest and most efficient solution to meet those growing demands,” he says.

The company says investment responds to growing global demand for energy storage systems (ESS) and allows NextStar Energy to broaden its product portfolio while strengthening its position in the North American battery supply chain.

Lee says right now they are exporting this product mainly to the U.S. market, but this is also good for the new Canadian market.

“Canada also has a battery solution to support their growing need for the energy storage market. So, this is also good news for having domestically produced batteries and the battery system available for the use of electricity, especially for renewable energy,” he says.

The facility currently employs over 1,300 people, with a long-term target of 2,500 employees as it scales to full production at the $5 billion plant.

NextStar Energy celebrated the grand opening of a 4.23 million-square-foot facility located just off the E.C. Row Expressway and Banwell Road this past March. It is Canada’s first and only commercial-scale battery manufacturing facility.

The company began commercial cell production in November 2025 and reached the milestone of producing one million cells in February.

NextStar Energy was established in 2022 as a joint venture by Stellantis and LG Energy Solution to build Canada’s first large-scale electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility, but on February 6, 2026, Stellantis announced it was selling its 49 per cent equity stake in the plant to LG Energy Solution.

The decision came after NextStar Energy announced in November 2025 that it was moving to produce energy storage system batteries to support commercial and grid-scale energy storage solutions, a move described as “responding and adapting to changing markets.”