Dow Kokam, a leading large-format battery system producer, announced it has selected Clayco Inc. of St. Louis as the design-build contractor to oversee construction of its battery manufacturing facility in Midland, Michigan.

Clayco will be responsible for the design and construction of the facility, which will produce lithium ion battery cells and packs for hybrid and electric vehicles.

“Dow Kokam’s speed to market is critical to meeting the automotive industry’s needs for a competitive energy source for the transportation industry,” says David Pankratz, Dow Kokam’s vice president of operations.

Construction of the new 800,000-sq-ft, large-format battery manufacturing facility will take place in two overlapping phases.

The first phase of construction, which began in May, is supported by a Department of Energy Reinvestment and Recovery Act grant. When Phase One is complete, the facility will span 400,000 sq ft, have a targeted capacity of 600 million watt hours and will employ at least 320 people.