$760M iron-air battery manufacturing plant planned for Weirton

Carmichael and Gov. Jim Justice made the announcement at the Culture Center in Charleston.

Form Energy is an American energy storage technology and manufacturing company that is developing and commercializing an iron-air battery capable of storing electricity for 100 hours at costs that compete with legacy power plants, according to its website.

The company has operations in Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania, and is backed by celebrity investors that include Bill Gates and Richard Branson.

The plant will be the company’s first full-scale battery manufacturing facility, said Mateo Jaramillo, company president and co-founder. The Weirton location is already listed on the company’s website.

“The U.S. electric grid faces a severe challenge as we transition to low-cost renewable energy — how to manage multi-day availability of that energy without sacrificing reliability or cost. Battery technologies on the market today can only provide four to six hours of energy storage at rated power cost-effectively,” said Jaramillo, who was formerly in charge of battery development for Tesla.

The company says its multi-day battery will reform the global electricity system to reliably run on 100% low-cost renewable energy.

“The active components of our iron-air battery systems are some of the safest, cheapest, and most abundant materials on the planet — low-cost iron, water and air,” Jaramillo said.

The company expects to start construction in 2023 and begin manufacturing iron-air battery systems in 2024 for broad commercialization, according to a news release from Justice’s office.

The state crafted a $290 million asset-based, performance financing package for the company. Shortly before Thursday’s announcement, the West Virginia Economic Development Authority allocated $75 million toward the purchase of the land and the construction of buildings in Weirton. Justice said he plans to ask the Legislature for the remaining $215 million.

“It couldn’t be better in my book. It’s put together as good as it could possibly be. It’s a business deal. We competed and we won,” Justice said.

As part of the deal, the state will retain ownership of the land and the buildings, Justice said.

“The way it’s going to be done is kind of an asset-based lending approach and everything to where, as the buildings are improved and renovated and put back and absolutely made the greatest of the greatest, the state is going to retain ownership of the land and the buildings, as, basically, a backstop to guarantee we’re safe,” Justice said.

Jaramillo said the company conducted a year-long search that included 500 potential locations in 16 states.

“We look forward to working with Weirton community leaders in the coming months to determine how we can best support the needs of local residents in the area through lasting community partnership and engagement,” he said.

At its peak, the former Weirton Steel employed 13,000 people and was the state’s largest employer and taxpayer, according to West Virginia Public Broadcasting.