New facility is expected to produce one gigawatt hour annually, enough to power over 750,000 homes.
Port Coquitlam, BC-based startup Moment Energy has been awarded $28.1 million CAD ($20.3 million USD) by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a new gigafactory in Taylor, Texas.
A gigafactory refers to a facility designed for the production of batteries, particularly those used in electric vehicles (EVs). According to a statement from Moment Energy, the new facility will be dedicated to producing battery energy storage systems from repurposed EV batteries.
“This facility will be instrumental in our commitment to enable all retired EV batteries to be repurposed by 2030.”
“We are honoured to be selected for this transformative initiative,” Edward Chiang, CEO of Moment Energy, said in a statement. “Our mission to provide worldwide access to clean, affordable, and reliable power aligns perfectly with the DOE’s goals, and this facility will be instrumental in our commitment to enable all retired EV batteries to be repurposed by 2030.”
Founded in 2020 by Chiang, COO Sumreen Rattan, CTO Gabriel Soares, and CPO Gurmesh Sidhu, Moment Energy has developed an EV battery-powered energy storage solution designed to help off-grid customers reduce their diesel consumption and aid their transition to renewable energy sources.
After closing $3.5 million CAD in seed funding in 2021, the startup entered a supply agreement with the energy storage subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz to reuse its used EV batteries. Last year, Chiang was named as one of the participants of the C100’s fellowship program.
According to the startup, the factory will have an annual production capacity of one gigawatt hour—equivalent to one million kilowatt-hours of energy—once fully operational. For a point of comparison, one gigawatt is enough electricity to supply over 750,000 homes for one year.
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Moment Energy’s gigafactory is expected to create over 50 manufacturing jobs and 200 permanent positions. It will also be the first UL1974-certified manufacturing facility in the United States dedicated to repurposing EV batteries. UL1974 is a safety standard that focuses on the evaluation, testing, and certification of processes for repurposing and recycling EV batteries.
According to Moment Energy, its selection for funding from the DOE is part of a $428-million USD initiative from the US government to accelerate domestic clean energy manufacturing in former coal communities across the US. Moment Energy was among 14 projects selected for DOE funding.
“These investments from the Biden-Harris Administration—catalyzing even more in private sector investment—will lift up these energy communities by creating good-paying union jobs, enhancing our supply chains, and ensuring that the next generation of clean energy technologies are made here in America,” White House national climate advisor Ali Zaidi said in a statement from the DOE announcing the funding recipients.
In addition to the facility, Moment Energy said it is also working on developing an artificial intelligence-powered management system aimed to make the battery energy storage process safer and longer lasting. The startup plans to begin work to preparing the design and development of the gigafactory in Q1 2025. BetaKit has reached out to Moment Energy to confirm when the gigafactory will be complete.
Feature image courtesy Moment Energy.