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ST. THOMAS, ONT. – 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.

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