Form Energy, the cutting-edge battery company bringing new life to Weirton’s industrial base, is celebrating completion of construction and start of trial production.
The $760 million initial phase on the site of the old Weirton steel mill in Hancock County is meant to produce 750 well-paying jobs.
In May 2023, Form Energy broke ground on Form Factory 1, the company’s first high-volume manufacturing facility in Weirton. Just a year later, the company completed construction of a building of more than 520,00 square feet, placed new manufacturing equipment inside and started trial production of its iron-air batteries.
Today, the company and community were gathering to celebrate the progress. Form credits the State of West Virginia and the Weirton community for supporting those milestones.
“The day is really a thank you to the community that we’re a part of,” said Mateo Jaramillo is co-founder and chief executive of Form Energy, speaking today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
“It’s our chance to show the progress that we’ve made and really say thank you.”
Gov. Jim Justice was among the dignitaries who attended and praised the project.
“I cannot be more proud of what’s going on in Hancock County,” Justice said. “At one point, Weirton was one of America’s most important steel towns—a national leader in steel production. Today, this historic city is looking toward the future, and it’s very bright with Form Energy. The reliability of the power grid for America will be dependent on West Virginia, making the Northern Panhandle a national leader of this industry.”
The company started its site selection process in 2022 and looked at dozens of states and hundreds of sites. Over the first six months, Form narrowed the possibilities to the top three sites.
Weirton stood out because of its proximity to barge access, rail line access and accessible highway.
The company’s battery technology operates through a “reversible rusting” process. The battery breathes in oxygen from the air and converts iron metal to rust. When the battery charges, the reverse happens. An electrical current converts the rust back to iron, and the battery breathes out oxygen.
“We’re producing batteries already,” Jaramillo said. “We are in what we call the production trial phase. So we’re fleshing out all the processes, the operations we have, to really build up to where we need to be to start to deliver to customers by the end of this year.
“We are on track to deliver to those first paying customers by the end of this year. So we’re really excited to be where we are.”
Form’s customers are electric utilities, looking to harness the battery storage capacity.
“They’re buying our resources because it helps their grid to just be more reliable and stable regardless of the source that is charging the batteries,” Jaramillo said.
“What these batteries can do is provide that reliability for days on end when you really need it. The increase in weather volatility — whether that’s a polar vortex or the heat dome or it’s a big storm or something, it doesn’t really matter; those events are happening more frequently. Even here in West Virginia, a deep freeze caused a major outage that lasted multiple days on end. That’s exactly what the batteries are intended to address.”
Among Form Energy’s financial backers is Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which includes billionaire investors like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. Gates has touted the company’s work “creating a new class of batteries that would provide long-duration storage at a lower cost than lithium ion batteries.”
The iron-air battery manufacturing plant is financed by millions of dollars of private investments, but there are also millions of public dollars going toward the project.
The West Virginia Economic Development Authority voted to allocate $75 million toward the purchase of land and the construction of buildings in Weirton. Another $215 million in allocations by the Legislature went toward supporting the project.
The deal means with the state means West Virginia will own the building and land, and Form Energy will lease it back. Much of the public money was to go toward infrastructure preparation. Form is responsible for the equipment and material inside the building. The property would transfer to Form no sooner than five years and only if the company employs 750 workers. The deal calls for workers making at least $63,000 a year in average salary.
Senator Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, said the project shows what’s possible when state and local governments partner with private industry to create jobs and economic development opportunities.
“I grew up in downtown Weirton, not far at all from the site of Form Factory 1. So to see this incredible opportunity come to realization – for a community to once again manufacture a product that will put Weirton back on the map – is something that I am both honored and humbled to have been a part of,” Weld said today.
With more than 245 employees working today at Form Factory 1, the company anticipates hiring many more workers in the coming months in the ramp up to high-volume manufacturing, set to begin in the coming month. By 2028, Form Factory 1 will employ a minimum of 750 workers and will have an annual manufacturing capacity of 500 megawatts.
“We are ahead of schedule from where we thought we would be in terms of hiring and the ramp up. So we’re eager to really accelerate from here,” Jaramillo said.
West Virginia officials have suggested the Form Energy development on the initial 55 acres could serve as an anchor for additional investment by other companies on the remaining full 1,300-acre property.
“Not one single company is going to be able to replaced the 14,000 people who used to work at Weirton Steel overnight. It will take time,” Jaramillo said. “And the process to bring back the economic growth right here in the Northern Panhandle will happen over time. But I think the state and county and the city are making all the right moves here. We’re extremely proud and happy to be here.”