Amprius to manufacture battery cells in Colorado
Californian battery cell developer Amprius Technologies is planning a production facility in Brighton in the US state of Colorado. Production will start in 2025 with an initial annual capacity of 500 MWh and later be expanded to 5 GWh. The company writes that expansion to up to 10 GWh is possible in the long term.
Amprius delivered the first cells with silicon in the form of nanowires as anode material and an energy density of 450 Wh/kg or 1,150 Wh/l about a year ago – initially for use in satellites. The company already announced that the cells could also be used in electric vehicles.
And that is precisely what Amprius is working on in the Colorado plant: producing cells for electric cars.
The company is leasing an existing factory site for this purpose. The strategic location and the existing production infrastructure were decisive for the site. The leased site covers 775,000 square feet (72 square kilometres). And the “existing factory site [is] equipped with the electric power and structural layout ideal for a gigawatt-hour scale lithium-ion battery factory, reducing expected build-out costs,” Amprius says. In addition, the factory is close to “essential materials” and transportation routes, which will reduce logistics and operating costs.
The initial phase of 500 MWh will be partly funded by the $50 million cost-sharing grant from the US Department of Energy Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains.
“We worked closely with the state of Colorado, the Colorado Economic Development Commission, Adams County, and the City of Brighton to align on terms that are mutually beneficial and include a comprehensive incentive proposal,” explained Dr Kang Sun, CEO of Amprius Technologies, adding: “Increasing production to meet the substantial market demand for our breakthrough silicon anode lithium-ion technology remains a priority, and we are confident this factory will allow us to scale and effectively serve the electric mobility market.”
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