General Electric unveiled its new battery manufacturing plant with a bang, literally.
GE leaders on Tuesday, July 10, held a grand opening for its $100 million advanced manufacturing battery facility in Schenectady and announced plans to invest an additional $70 million to expand production capabilities. The extra millions will effectively double production and add 100 new jobs, bringing the total factory workforce to 450 employees at full capacity.
After speakers at the event applauded the new technology and company officials laid out future plans, a video highlighted the facility. During the viewing, several planned explosions were set off above the screen.
The new factory, as large as four football fields, is located near GE’s Global Research Center (GRÇ) in Niskayuna, where the new Durathon batteries were developed. The industrial batteries are produced using raw materials such as salt and nickel and are non-toxic and fully recyclable.
“The ability to store energy in an economically competitive way is one of the huge challenges in the 21st Century,” GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt said. “We are investing another $70 million today because we think we have that much demand.”
Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy said he was thrilled at the opening of the new plant and GE also plans to expand its local operations.
“We’ve worked together in Schenectady to get things done, to compete for and win new investments like this state of the art battery plant,” McCarthy said.
New York State provided $15 million in funding toward the new plant when it was announced in May 2009 and Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority also committed $5 million.
Immelt said he foresees the industrial battery business to be “a billion dollar business” by the end of the decade, with it garnering $500 million annually by 2016. He said only “a handful of customers” would be needed to reach the half billion dollar mark.
“We should all be disappointed if we don’t accomplish those goals,” Immelt said to a large gathering of workers at the event.
GE also introduced its first customer for the new batteries. Megatron Federal of Johannesburg, South Africa, has signed a purchase agreement to order 6,000 batteries, which will be delivered in 2013 at a cost of $60 million.
Brandon Harcus, division manager of Megatron Federal, said some people “living in the GE culture” might not realize how big and far reaching GE is and the “effect it can have on many lives.”
Harcus said throughout Africa there are hundreds of thousands of diesel generators pumping carbon emissions nonstop into the air to power telecommunication towers. The typical battery technology used is lead-acid and requires two air conditioners running constantly to keep it from overheating. The air conditioners represent 40 percent of the battery power costs, he said.
The old batteries also require 10 hours to charge, while GE’s new batteries only take two hours to fully charge and no cooling is required, he said.
“I’m very excited about this business,” Harcus said. “We are trying to introduce some new products with great technologies that will complement this battery.”
Immelt said the company would expand its battery business outside of the telecommunication industry, too, into other applicable areas.
“We’ll continue to expand the business into new areas beyond telecommunications to build the next generation of energy-efficient buses, locomotives and mining vehicles around the world,” he said.
Tours of the new facility were given at the grand opening, which showed the production steps to create the batteries.
First, a ceramic power formulation mixer combines the “powder” used to make the ceramic tubes, which are how the batteries are able to work more effectively. Then the material is milled to reduce the size of the particles to allow for spray drying. When dry, the powder is pressed to create a tube, which is “fired” to create ceramic tubes.
Additional elements are added to the tube before an individual cell is assembled and filled, allowing for current to be collected. Many cells are then assembled into a battery case and management system, which forms the final product after cells are laser wielded together.
Immelt said have GRC positioned in Schenectady County is a benefit for continued investment in the region.
“We can basically build things today almost anywhere, so in some ways having the proximity close to the GRC makes the Capital Region maybe more competitive today than it’s been in the past,” he said.
Immelt said the company “loves” the GRC being located in the county and it’s good to manufacture products around where they’re invented.
“The state has been supportive, the workforce has been supportive, there is no reason why we can’t do more things here,” he said. “As long as we can compete and innovate, there is no reason why GE can’t do more things here.”
