North Carolina is establishing itself as an indispensable loop on the so-called “battery belt” of southeastern states.
Forge Battery’s gigafactory in Morrisville was already under construction — and set to be operational by 2026 — when the company received a $100 million grant from the Department of Energy through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The company doesn’t expect that a Trump presidency will impact their access to that funding, Forge Battery spokesperson Will McKenna told Carolina Public Press on Friday.
The initial target for the lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Forge Battery in Morrisville was one gigawatt hour. The additional $100 million will allow the company to produce at three times that capacity.
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“The Department of Energy saw that we have oversubscribed demand for the batteries that we’ll be producing here, and so they are funding an expansion to three gigawatt hours,” McKenna said.