(Reuters) – Natron Energy said on Thursday it planned to invest $1.4 billion in a sodium-ion battery manufacturing plant in North Carolina, potentially raising the company’s production capacity by 40 times.
The facility, located in Edgecombe County of the state, will produce 24 gigawatts (GW) of battery storage at full capacity on an annual basis.
This compares with the company’s current capacity of producing 600 megawatts (MW) of sodium-ion battery storage annually at its Holland, Michigan facility.
U.S. and European startups have been racing to develop new batteries using materials that are cheaper and abundant, one such being sodium, as they look to reduce China’s stranglehold on the battery market, ease looming supply bottlenecks and lead to mass-market electric vehicles (EVs).
However, sodium-based batteries hold only about half as much energy per kilogram when compared with lithium-powered batteries.
The company said North Carolina had agreed to provide up to $21.75 million in potential reimbursements, spread over 12 years.
Natron also expects the county to apply for a $30 million grant from a new state funding program to help prepare or upgrade qualifying industrial sites.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the development earlier today.
The International Energy Agency said in April that while sodium-ion batteries would account for less than 10% of electric vehicle batteries by 2030, they would make up a growing share of energy storage batteries.
Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Sourasis Bose; Editing by Anil D’Silva
