Charleston, WV — Today, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, joined Form Energy’s leadership to tour the company’s new iron air battery manufacturing plant, Form Factory 1, which is under construction in Weirton, West Virginia. Form broke ground on Form Factory 1 — its first factory in West Virginia and the company’s first high-volume battery manufacturing plant — in May 2023.

The speed and scale of construction progress on Form Factory 1 in West Virginia has been accelerated by the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), an energy security law designed to incentivize domestic manufacturing and drive energy innovation. The IRA will help ensure that Weirton and West Virginia remain on the cutting-edge of the energy technologies of the future for years to come.

Form Factory 1 is being constructed on a site that previously housed the Weirton Steel Mill. In less than a year, Form Energy has nearly completed building construction, started landing manufacturing equipment inside and begun hiring and training its manufacturing workforce. When operating at full capacity, the factory will employ at least 750 workers in Weirton with good-paying jobs. The manufacturing facility represents a total direct investment of $760 million in Weirton, inclusive of an incentive package of $290 million from the State of West Virginia.

A historic steel community, Weirton is located on the Ohio River with direct access to rail, river and highway infrastructure that will enable Form Energy to transport West Virginia-made batteries across the nation. Form Energy selected Weirton as the home of its first factory after a robust, year-long, nationwide site selection process that included reviewing over 500 candidate locations across 16 states. The company ultimately chose a 55-acre site in Weirton because of the existing transportation infrastructure and the historic steel community’s strong talent base. 

“It feels like just yesterday we were gathered here to break ground on this major investment in the Mountain State and seeing the progress today has filled me with tremendous pride and hope for our great state. For generations, West Virginians have done the heavy lifting. We’ve mined the coal that forged the steel that built the tanks and ships that allowed our country to become the greatest industrial might the world has ever known — and soon we can add batteries to that list. The West Virginians who will work in this facility will once again be stepping up to the plate and building on our legacy as America’s energy powerhouse, something all of West Virginia can be proud of,” said Chairman Manchin.

Mateo Jaramillo, CEO and Co-Founder of Form Energy, said, “We would not be where we are today - with eager customers waiting for our iron-air batteries, Form Factory 1 well under construction in Weirton, and already hiring for our manufacturing team - without the fantastic leadership of Senator Manchin and other federal, state, and local champions of Weirton. For so many decades, Weirton was the heart of iron and steelmaking in this country, enabling America to become a manufacturing powerhouse. We are so proud to now be building our first factory, and our first iron-air batteries, here in Weirton. Our hope is that Form Factory 1 will help place Weirton at the center of America’s new manufacturing boom, and America’s energy future."