SK On Lands Multi-Year Battery Supply Deal with US Firm NeoVolta Power

SK On, the battery manufacturing unit of SK Innovation, announced Monday that it has reached a multi-year supply agreement with NeoVolta Power, a U.S. energy storage system provider, marking one of the company's largest wins in the fast-growing battery storage market.

Under the deal, SK On will supply 9 gigawatt-hours of lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, pouch-type battery cells through 2031. The cells will be manufactured at SK On's plant in Georgia, tapping into the company's existing U.S. production base. Korean media have pegged the contract's value at around 1.5 trillion won, equivalent to roughly $1 billion, though SK On has not officially confirmed the figure.

To put the scale in perspective, SK On said the volume of batteries involved would be sufficient to supply electricity to nearly a million households for a full day, underlining the size of the order relative to the company's broader battery backlog.

The agreement reflects SK On's strategy of diversifying beyond the high-nickel batteries it has traditionally supplied to electric vehicle makers, pushing further into LFP cells tailored for battery energy storage systems, or BESS, a segment seeing surging demand in the United States.

"This partnership strengthens SK On's position in the U.S. BESS market," said Choi Dae-jin, the company's ESS business chief, adding that it pairs domestic manufacturing with NeoVolta's storage expertise. NeoVolta Power President Steve Bond said the tie-up gives both firms "a strong foundation" to meet rising American demand for energy storage.

SK On itself is not publicly traded, but investors reacted swiftly to the news through its parent. Shares of SK Innovation surged 7.36% on the Seoul bourse on Monday, sharply outperforming the benchmark KOSPI, which rose a more modest 0.46% on the day.