CHARLESTON, W.Va. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) today applauded the announcement that Our Next Energy (ONE), a Michigan-based energy storage technology company, has entered into an agreement with the State of West Virginia to locate its Aries Grid battery storage system manufacturing facility in Ravenswood, at the Berkshire Hathaway Energy Renewables (BHE Renewables) microgrid business site.
ONE will use a 40,000 sq. ft. industrial building already located on the Ravenswood site to assemble Aries Grid, a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) utility-scale battery system that can serve as long-duration energy storage. Millwood is an ideal location to build Aries Grids as BHE Renewables selected ONE as its partner for utility-scale battery storage at its microgrid business site. With today’s announcement, the Aries Grid battery will be manufactured in West Virginia.
“ONE’s announcement of additional investment in Jackson County shows West Virginia’s increasing role as a leader in the energy and manufacturing sectors, and I thank Mujeeb Ijaz for recognizing all that our state has to offer,” Senator Capito said. “This development serves as one more example of our state’s commitment to job creation and economic development that will result in positive change and growth for generations to come.”
“The BHE Renewables microgrid project, estimated at 420 MWh, in Jackson County represents a historic transition to renewable energy-based manufacturing in the U.S. and establishes a standard for others to follow,” Mujeeb Ijaz, CEO and Founder of ONE, said. “Building upon BHE Renewables’ commitment to this site and the State of West Virginia, ONE’s first Aries Grid factory will bring even more jobs and investment to this area to help clear a path to a carbon-free manufacturing future.”
ONE expects the manufacturing facility to be operational in 2025, with hiring to start next year.
In September 2022, Senator Capito applauded the announcement that BHE Renewables entered into an agreement with the State of West Virginia to purchase more than 2,000 acres of land in Ravenswood, West Virginia, to be developed as a first-of-its-kind renewable energy microgrid-powered industrial site. The West Virginia Economic Development Authority is working with BHE Renewables to bring additional businesses to the site to take advantage of the prime manufacturing location and renewable energy infrastructure.
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