American Battery Factory has turned dirt only ceremonially at the site of its planned $1 billion advanced battery “gigafactory” on Tucson’s south side, which is expected to eventually employ some 1,000 workers if the company’s plans bear fruit.
But the company is still on track to start serious construction this fall as it moves forward on several fronts including factory design, manufacturing automation and site utilities.
Most recently, the company said that the new factory will use Honeywell’s latest artificial-intelligence with its automated manufacturing equipment to produce the startup’s proprietary lithium-iron phosphate battery cells.
And the battery startup recently reached an industrial power-supply agreement with Tucson Electric Power for its plant site south of the Tucson Airport, subject to approval by state utility regulators.
People are also reading…
American Battery Factory, or ABF, a spinoff of Utah-based battery pack maker Lion Energy, plans to invest $1.2 billion in capital and hire about 1,000 new jobs at full buildout of its planned Tucson factory complex at the research campus, where it broke ground on the first-phase factory last October.
ABF, which plans to locate its headquarters at the Tucson site, says its completed necessary design studies for the first phase of the planned 2 million-square-foot factory complex.
The company plans to erect a series of modular and rapidly deployable, fabric-covered buildings with concrete foundations on the plant site at Pima County’s Aerospace Research Campus.
ABF plans to build a network of such “gigafactories” (a term coined by electric vehicle maker Tesla for its battery plants) to make long-lasting cells for portable battery packs and storage systems.
Batteries made with lithium iron phosphate, generally known as lithium ferrophosphate or LFP, generally have more capacity and are less fire-prone than the most common lithium-ion batteries made with nickel and cobalt, and ABF says its flat “prismatic” cell design packs more power per inch than cylindrical cells.
With a targeted completion in 2025, the first ABF gigafactory will include the company’s headquarters, a research and development innovation center as well as an initial, 1,500-foot-long factory module capable of producing 20 gigawatt-hours worth of battery cells annually, the company said.
In early June, tech giant Honeywell announced it will launch a new AI software for industrial automation with ABF at its initial Tucson factory.
Honeywell says its Battery Manufacturing Excellence Platform is is designed to optimize the operation of gigafactories from day one, by improving battery cell yields and expediting plant startups.
ABF had announced last fall that Honeywell, which has been providing automated production equipment for more than 50 years, would supply equipment for the new factory.
John Kem, president of American Battery Factory said Honeywell’s Battery MXP and its automation capabilities will help his company quickly establish a foundation for a network of gigafactories.
“This solution is vital in our manufacturing operation because it allows us to reduce scrap and scale up quickly, while also ensuring we meet the U.S. and international demand for high quality lithium iron phosphate batteries as we prepare for the unprecedented surge expected over the next decade,” Kem said.
Honeywell will work with ABF’s production line partner, Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment (LEAD) a major maker of energy equipment, to build and install a fully automated production line.
ABF is among many companies planning to take advantage of new federal tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act intended to boost new-energy manufacturing including renewables and batteries in the U.S. to reduce the dominance of China as relations between the nations cool.
The company also is looking to “onshore” its own supply chain to North America, and it has already inked a deal with a Canadian company to acquire long-term supplies of lithium iron phosphate cathode material, and an alliance with a U.S. based company for materials used to separate cells within a battery.
And ABF has an advance order from Lion Energy, which incubated the company, for 18 gigawatt-hours worth of LFP battery cells.
TEP power deal
In early June, Tucson Electric asked the Arizona Corporation Commission to approve a special agreement to supply power to ABF.
Though some details were redacted in public documents filed with the commission, the agreement calls for TEP to deliver high-voltage 46-kilovolt service to ABF in the first factory construction phase expected to be completed by Jan. 15, 2025, and during the next construction phase, TEP will deliver 138-kv service.
The phase one factory will be on TEP’s Large Power Supply Time of Use rate, while in the second phase it will shift to the Large Power Supply Time of Use-High Voltage.
Those rate plans feature usage-based charges based on overall consumption and so-called demand charges based on peak usage, with higher rates in summer and during peak demand periods.
ABF will get an undisclosed discount on energy and demand rates under both rate plans, the redacted agreement shows.
About 20 industrial customers of TEP are currently on one of the Large Power Supply rates, TEP spokesman Joe Barrios said.
But TEP says that because of their high “load factors” — a measure of efficient use of energy calculated by dividing average load by peak load during a time period — such large power users provide benefits to all ratepayers.
“Very high load factor customers help reduce the overall cost for TEP to serve all its customers because they help flatten the overall system load profile, which, in turn, allows TEP to operate its generation fleet in a more optimal manner while spreading its fixed cost over a greater volume of energy,” the company said.
Nationwide including in TEP territory, industrial utility customers generally pay lower overall power rates than residential or small-business customers, which utilities say cost more to serve.
In 2022, more than 500 industrial customers of TEP paid an average 8.64 cents per kilowatt hour of usage, while TEP residential customers paid 13.73 cents per kWh, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
ABF also must pay for any electrical improvements to its facility, will be subject to undisclosed minimum-load requirements and give TEP a letter of credit in an undisclosed amount as security, the agreement says.
In its ACC filing, TEP said the special agreement with ABF substantially reflects a package the utility offered to help lure the company to the Tucson area, and the utility is ready for its new customer.
In January, TEP received ACC approval for a three-mile transmission line to link an existing TEP 138kv line with a planned switchyard on the Aerospace Research Campus.
Biotech firm to Oro Valley
A Nevada-based biotech startup has won sponsored entry into the University of Arizona Center for Innovation’s tech startup incubation program in Oro Valley.
CellMedics Inc., will join the UACI’s biotech-focused outpost in Oro Valley as winner of a “sponsored launch” backed by the Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Town of Oro Valley.
The UACI incubation program includes resources, facilities, services and expert guidance to grow a business.
The privately held CellMedics is that holds multiple patents for topical, transdermal (skin) and ocular (eye) drug delivery systems for hard-to-deliver molecular drugs and biologics, and has already developed formulations to treat skin conditions, arthritis, chronic pain and nail fungus.
Scott Shapiro, CEO of CellMedics and a University of Arizona alumnus, has established a collaborative research agreement with the University of Arizona, working with UA pharmacologist Todd Vanderahof as the principal investigator for the university, to advance development, testing and grant applications.
Aero conference in July
The Arizona Technology Council will hold its 12th Annual Aerospace, Aviation, Defense and Manufacturing Conference from noon to 6 p.m. Friday, July 12 at the Pima Community College Aviation Technology Center, 7211 S. Park Ave.
The program will feature sponsor exhibits and panels on aerospace and space in Arizona, gaps and challenges in efforts to grow the aerospace industry, and recent innovations in manufacturing.
Admission to the conference costs $35 for council members, or $50 for non-members. Go to tucne.ws/aero24 for more information or to register.
Contact senior reporter David Wichner at dwichner@tucson.com or 520-573-4181. On Twitter: @dwichner.
'); var s = document.createElement('script'); s.setAttribute('src', 'https://assets.revcontent.com/master/delivery.js'); document.body.appendChild(s); window.removeEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); __tnt.log('Load Rev Content'); } } }, 100); window.addEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); }
Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.
The business news you need
Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.
