Manufacturing Renaissance: Building Multi-Day Battery Systems at Former Steel Site

By Will Sturgeon on   |   2 min read

鈥淲e鈥檙e connecting the old and the new. For us, what it means is bringing manufacturing back to Weirton.鈥�

Video: U.S. Department of Energy

In the 1960s, steel manufacturing was in the Rust Belt. People flocked to bustling Weirton, West Virginia for the decent pay offered by the steel industry. Today, the town is much quieter. 听

But this old steel town is now embracing manufacturing for a clean energy technology.听

鈥淚 grew up in Weirton, I have an aunt that lives right up the road. She鈥檚 seen it come up, and unfortunately, she鈥檚 seen it fall. But she鈥檚 getting ready to see another legacy start.鈥�

Located at the site of the former Weirton Steel plant, U.S.-based recently built its first high-volume battery manufacturing facility.听

Form Factory 1 is producing a new class of affordable multi-day energy storage systems that can store energy for 100 hours using innovative iron-air technology. Form Energy is the first company to commercialize and scale this new made-in-America technology

鈥淚鈥檝e seen Weirton in its heyday and I鈥檝e seen Weirton when it was on its knees. And right now we鈥檙e starting to get off our knees.鈥�听
Enzo Fracasso, 听

Within 36 hours of posting job openings online, 200 interview slots were filled. The positions of $63,000, which is approximately $10,000 higher than the average earnings of men in the area and twice the average income for women.听

Form Factory 1 will ultimately employ more than 750 people and will have an annual production capacity of 500 MW of batteries when operating at full capacity.

“To quote my kids, Weirton is economically on fire. 滨迟鈥檚 going to be the tide that rises all of us.鈥�
, Weirton City Manager

Construction of the first phase of the factory began in May 2023 and is already substantially complete. Next, Form Energy will begin high-volume production of its battery systems and start construction on the next phase of the factory, which will result in a total of ~1 million square feet of manufacturing space.听

For the people of Weirton, manufacturing for the clean energy industry means a new chapter of hope and opportunity in their storied town.

Find more stories of the new U.S. clean energy manufacturing renaissance in ACP鈥檚听Clean Energy Investing in America听report.听

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