By Charles Young, The Exponent Telegram
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — From 2017 to 2021, West Virginia attracted $6.2 billion in private sector investments, according to state Economic Development Secretary Mitch Carmichael.
In 2022 and 2023, the figure rose to $10 billion, which includes planned projects promised to bring hundreds of new employment opportunities to the state.
“In two years, we exceeded what they had done in the previous four years by 50%,” Carmichael said.
Form Energy, which manufactures multi-day, iron-air renewable batteries, announced its plan to invest in West Virginia at the end of December 2022.
Form selected the 55-acre site of a former steel manufacturing facility in Weirton for its first factory after a year-long, nationwide site selection process that included reviewing over 500 locations across 16 states.
The company recently announced its West Virginia facility had been selected to supply the batteries for a multi-day system planned for Lincoln, Maine.
“All the batteries for this pioneering multi-day energy storage system will be manufactured at Form Factory 1 in Weirton, West Virginia,” said Mateo Jaramillo, Form Energy co-founder and CEO.
The Maine project is projected to be the “largest energy storage project by energy capacity announced yet in the world,” Jaramillo said.
