Manufacturing
Feds Guarantee $303M Loan for Expanded Energy Storage Batteries in Pennsylvania
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said loan would both bolster energy security and continue to support manufacturing facilities being planned and funded under the federal CHIPS Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Dept. of Energy
The U.S. Dept. of Energy said it has closed a $303.5-million loan guarantee to Eos Energy Enterprises, a manufacturer of zinc-bromine stationary batter systems, to build two new production lines in Turtle Creek, Pa., and possibly two additional lines in a new Duquesne, Pa., facility that are expected to manufacture a total of 8 GWh of storage capacity annually by 2027.
The latter two lines are in a new plant that still awaits other DOE approvals and completion of a National Environmental Policy Act review.
In a statement, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the loan would both bolster energy security and continue to support the manufacturing facilities being planned and funded under the CHIPS Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Growing Market
According to Fortune Business Insights, the U.S. battery energy storage system market is projected to reach an estimated value of $31.4 billion by 2032, driven by increased adoption of renewable energy and need for enhanced grid stability.
The Eos zinc-bromine batteries, which provide an alternative to lithium-ion, lead-acid, sodium-sulfur and vanadium redox chemistries for stationary battery storage, have potential to weather market volatilities and supply-chain risks compared to other technologies that rely on critical minerals largely sourced outside of the U.S., DOE said.
Joe Mastrangelo, CEO of Eos, said the company decided five years ago to relocate manufacturing operations from China to the U.S., and helped establish a supply chain relying primarily on domestically available materials. “The DOE loan provides capital to scale our operations to meet surging demand for reliable, long-duration energy storage solutions, while supporting American manufacturing,” he said in a statement.
An Eos spokesperson said the firm plans to add capacity to its battery manufacturing operations using a phased approach, with immediate focus on expanding each current line capacity in the Turtle Creek plant from 1.2 GWh to 2 GWh, with lines 3 and 4 housed in the Duquesne facility.
However, the firm is also now sizing a new facility that would be able to accommodate all four lines, “allowing us to consolidate all our manufacturing in a single location in the future,” the spokesperson told ENR.
