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    FREYR Battery latest to bring Battery Storage Manufacturing to U.S.

    Nov. 14, 2022
    Norway-based FREYR’s initial goal for the Georgia industrial park site is create 34 GWh in battery cell production capacity once production begins
    Rendering credit FREYR Battery website
    Freyr Battery Rendering 6372b4ff3ee23

    Utility-scale battery energy storage system developer FREYR Battery has acquired land in Georgia to built a $1.7 billion battery cell manufacturing facility.

    The company, which partners with 24M to use and scale up the latter’s SemiSolid lithium-ion battery platform, announced plans for the Giga America production plant in Coweta County. Norway-based FREYR Battery’s initial goal is create 34 GWh in battery cell production capacity at the industrial park site once production begins.

    Eventually, FREYR plans to spend close to $2.6 billion on several battery cell lines of production by 2029.

    “Expanding into the U.S. has been a foundational aspect of FREYR’s long-term strategy from our inception, and with the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, we expected U.S. demand for (energy storage systems), passenger EV and other electric mobility applications to grow rapidly over the next decade,” FREYR co-founder and CEO Tom Einar Jensen said in a statement.

    The project could create more than 720 U.S. jobs, the company predicted. FREYR acquired the land planned for Gigi America at the Bridgeport Industrial Park site in Coweta County. Both the state of Georgia and Coweta County offered financial incentives for the project.

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    Additionally, FREYR intends to apply with the U.S. Department of Energy for packages that could include a grant and/or direct loans to assist with the development of Giga America.

    FREYR’s announcement for Gigi America follows several other battery manufacturing plans in the United States revealed since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act which offers incentives such as production tax credits for tightening the clean energy supply chain surrounding the U.S. (See our on-demand EnergyTech webinar about the future impact of the IRA and Infrastructure Acts).

    Solar module maker First Solar has vowed to invest $1.2 billion to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint in a deal announced this summer. EV maker Stallantis and Factorial Energy plan to build an advanced production site in Massachusetts.

    Fluence Energy contracted with a Utah manufacturer to build its Cube battery platforms domestically.

    Early this year, technology giant Honeywell detailed a deal to buy 19 GWh of FREYR battery cells between 2023 and 2030 for its energy storage applications. FREYR will also leverage Honeywell’s technology such as field instrumentation, integrated automation and security integration in the manufacturing process.

    Prices for battery energy storage systems are predicted to fall by many market observers, spurring greater market development. Early this decade, the energy storage industry forecasted some 100 GW of new BESS capacity by 2030 as developers increase solar power installations and seek balancing assets for intermittent renewable energies.

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    (Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]). 

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    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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