Volvo locates in Berkeley County, South Carolina

Industry

Volvo

County

Berkeley County

Served By

Edisto Electric Cooperative

Date

2015

Background:  In 2014, Volvo and their parent company, Geely, conducted a search to identify the home for their first domestic production facility.  The project would cost $500 million in new capital investment and employ approximately 1,000 people at the facility.  The company narrowed their search to a site outside of Charleston and a site outside of Savannah.

Challenge:  South Carolina’s original site was eliminated due to wetland concerns.  But leaders loved the Charleston region so much, Team South Carolina was given the opportunity to submit Camp Hall in Berkeley County.  Beyond purchasing the 6000+ acre site, there was a need to bring all infrastructure and construct new roads within the site.

Solution:  In addition to significant commitments from South Carolina Department of Commerce and Santee Cooper, the South Carolina Power Team partnered with two electric cooperatives to fill the gaps that remained to make the site viable.  With a financial commitment from both Berkeley Electric Cooperative and Edisto Electric Cooperative, the South Carolina Power Team was able to provide close to $14 million in additional funding which were applied toward the purchase of the site now occupied by Volvo, property for future expansion, and critical infrastructure.

In addition, the price of power was a key consideration in the site selection process.  In 2014, with the adoption of the Strategic Blueprint, both Santee Cooper and the electric cooperatives adopted a new incentivized rate structure for large load and high load factor projects.  The rate was designed to allow the cooperatives to compete with the larger investor-owned utilities in the Southeast.  As a result, Edisto Electric Cooperative was able to secure service for the Volvo project, a signature win for the cooperative and the electric cooperative system.

Result:  Today, Volvo employees more than 2000 South Carolinians and has invested nearly $2 billion in manufacturing operations at their site in Berkeley County.  The plant is the production home of the all new S60 mid-size sedan, and it will produce the next generation XC90 sport utility vehicle around 2022. With the two car lines, the plant has the capacity to produce up to 150,000 cars annually.

New Jobs:
2,000+
New Investment: Nearly
$2 Billion

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