$150M federal grant to supercharge Form Energy operations in Weirton, West Virginia

A $150 million federal grant is set to supercharge operations at Weirton’s Form Energy Factory 1.

The U.S. Department of Energy funds will enable Form to hire 600 workers to staff its commercial-scale battery manufacturing line at its recently completed facility built on the site of a former steel mill.

“This is an accelerant,” said Form Energy CEO Mateo Jaramillo. “This is not the first money in, the first risk-capital into the company; it really is helping to drive it even faster.”

Additionally, the company has raised “$900 million of equity capital to date,” has received financial incentives from the state and has received support from the city of Weirton and from the Hancock County Commission, Jaramillo said.

The company manufactures multi-day, iron-air, renewable batteries that are “very, very different” compared to most batteries on the market for commercial applications, Jaramillo said.

“Iron, of course, is very low-cost, very abundant and very easy to work with,” he said. “Because it’s so low-cost, that means, for a battery, it can be very long duration.”

The company’s batteries can be discharged for up to 100 hours, or just shy of four days, Jaramillo said.

“Versus lithium ion batteries today, most of them are between two and four hours,” he said. “So 25 to 50 times longer duration. That means we’re solving a different problem for the electrical grid; we’re solving a real reliability challenge.”

The funds awarded to Form are part of the second wave of grants from a $6 billion program aimed at bolstering domestic battery manufacturing, said Giulia Siccardo, director of the DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains.

“Overall, across all these programs we’re announcing over $3 billion for 25 projects across a total of 14 states,” she said. “These federal investment dollars are going to be matched by almost $7 billion in private capital, which translates to over 4,000 full-time jobs and 8,000 construction jobs in this sector alone.”

The program was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and other officials helped craft.

“When it comes to energy storage, we need to ensure that we’re building a strong domestic supply chain of our own and finding innovative solutions that do not require critical minerals so that we can reduce our dependence on countries of concern like China,” said Manchin.

The programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will provide funds through “2032 — maximum,” Manchin said.

“At this time, these companies that we’re investing in now from the federal government to give them a jump start, will have the market shares that they need to continue,” he said. “This kind of money will not be injected, never (again) in my lifetime will I see that type of investment that we’ve made.”

Gov. Jim Justice, who recently visited Form Energy’s new facility, said progress made in the last year is “un-flat-believable.”

“The size of the building is enormous; 250 people are working there now; they’re on their way to 750 (employees),” he said. “And you mark it down — they’ll go flying past 250 people. They’re already building on an expansion for a giant building because of the demand for their product.”

Form Energy announced it had selected Weirton as the location of its first factory in December 2022. The 55-acre site along the Ohio river was chosen following a year-long, nationwide selection process that included reviewing over 500 candidate locations across 16 states.

Justice signed House Bill 2822 into law at the end of February 2023. The measure appropriated about $105 million to the West Virginia Economic Development Project Fund for the Form Energy project.

The appropriation was part of “a unique financial incentive package worth up to $290 million” to secure the company’s investment, Justice said at the time.

The incentive package was crafted by the West Virginia Department of Economic Development and includes safeguards for the state’s interests, according to West Virginia Secretary of Economic Development Mitch Carmichael.

“We insisted that West Virginia own all the land and buildings for this incredible project. The Form Energy incentives are 100% geared to performance. Our deal is clear: If Form Energy doesn’t create 750 jobs, the company will not get a penny from West Virginia,” he said. “Additionally, Form Energy will pay West Virginia a market-based lease rate on the facility. Finally, if Form Energy doesn’t meet their obligations and commitments, they are out, and West Virginia has all the collateral and security.”