WOODINVILLE — A Snohomish County-based battery-maker will amp up production of its batteries, thanks to a grant from the federal government.
Group14 Technologies, which produces materials for silicon batteries, was awarded $100 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to increase its manufacturing capacity.
Funded with $2.8 billion through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, this first round of grants supports 21 battery-related projects and domestic battery manufacturing.
Group14 produces materials for batteries it says will power everything from tiny medical devices to airplanes and other electric vehicles.
“Our objective is to be in anything you have that has a battery,” CEO and co-founder Rick Luebbe told The Daily Herald earlier this year.
“I’m most excited about electric vehicles … with radically extended range and charging as fast as filling the tank,” Luebbe said.
The $100 million grant will help finance construction of a manufacturing plant in Moses Lake. The company says it expects to hire 500 employees for the construction and operation of the facility.
“With our growing footprint in the Pacific Northwest, we’re answering the call for ‘all-American’ batteries and remain steadfastly committed to building out a fully end-to-end domestic battery supply chain to help the U.S. stay ahead in the electrification race,” Luebbe said in a news release.
The company gets its name from the 14th column of the periodic table, which is topped by two elements it relies on: carbon and silicon.
Group14 operates a research and production facility in southeast Snohomish County, near Woodinville.
On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, a Medina Democrat who supported the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, toured Group14’s Woodinville factory.
“This investment in Group14 Technologies will help the United States meet our growing demand for the millions of batteries that we need to power our homes and vehicles over the rest of this century,” DelBene said.
The initial $2.8 billion investment represents the first phase of investment. In all, more than $7 billion in energy department funds are earmarked to support domestic battery production and research through the Infrastructure Act.
Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com;
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