Battery company purchases facility in Moses Lake

From staff reports

ALAMEDA, Calif. – Sila, a next-generation-battery materials company, announced this week that it has purchased a large facility in Moses Lake to manufacture batteries.

The 600,000-square-foot building would be used to build lithium-ion-anode materials to be used in electric cars and cellphones, according to a released published on Business Wire.

Powered by hydropower, the facility is located on 160 acres of land. Eventually, the plant could build enough batteries to run up to 500,000 electric vehicles and 500 million mobile phones annually, according to the release.

Production is not expected to begin until the second half of 2024, with full production volumes underway a year later.

The Moses Lake site also has enough room for future expansion.

“The U.S. has always excelled at innovation. Our new Washington state plant builds on that momentum, offering the manufacturing capacity to meet the needs of our auto partners on their way to a fully electric future,” said Gene Berdichevsky, co-founder and CEO of Sila. “With this scale-up, we have a pivotal piece to realize the full potential of next-generation materials at volumes required to make a global impact.”

In a statement, Gov. Jay Inslee said state leaders are excited that Sila chose to invest in the area.

“Our energy independence and economic prosperity are tied to our ability to develop and manufacture new clean energy technologies here on American soil,” Inslee said. “I’m proud that Washington state has been a leader on this issue.”

Founded in 2011, California-based Sila has developed “advanced silicon anode materials” that provide new energy storage that could alleviate the current economy’s dependence on fossil fuels, according to the release.