Weirton, WV – October 14, 2024 — Today, Form Energy announced the start of construction to expand Form Factory 1, its high-volume manufacturing facility located in Weirton, West Virginia. This will enable the company to scale up production, hire more employees, and deliver more breakthrough iron-air batteries to customers nationwide.

The Form Energy team anticipates completing the Form Factory 1 expansion project within a year’s time – by the end of 2025. The team set similarly ambitious timelines when they set out to construct the initial factory space and achieved that goal this summer. To make that possible, Form Energy brought on hundreds of local construction workers, including many union laborers, and expects to do so again for the expansion effort.

When speaking to the project, Ted Wiley, Co-Founder, President, and COO of Form Energy said, “We are excited to begin expanding Form Factory 1, which will allow us to build even more iron-air batteries to support America’s future electric grid. We’re especially proud to do this from the site of the former Weirton Steel mill, which was once one of the largest steel producers in the world and shaped the America we know today. At Form Energy, we carry the responsibility and the privilege of looking towards the future while honoring the past – and we plan to continue carrying this with us as we embark on this next chapter for Form Factory 1.”

Form Factory 1 is located on a 55-acre site where the Weirton Steel mill once stood. Before beginning construction on the initial Form Factory 1 facility, a site assessment was performed and the area was cleared of any unsafe structures from the old mill. In the process of planning for the Form Factory 1 expansion, a similar site assessment revealed that the mill’s old Stock Building, originally constructed in the 1920s, will soon need to be dismantled due to several overhead safety concerns. 

The Form Energy team plans to repurpose and preserve parts of the old Stock Building’s frame, both practically as part of its expansion plans and culturally as part of a larger effort to honor the mill’s legacy. Much of the scrap steel from the building’s frame will be saved to create artwork and communal congregation spaces for employees in and around the factory in the future. 

The Form Factory 1 lobby also houses an exhibit, created in partnership with the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center, that displays archival photos, artifacts, and information from the site’s rich history. In a nod to the area’s revival and regrowth, the exhibit includes planters made out of scrap steel from the old mill site. These were made by a local carpenter whose father used to work at the Weirton Steel mill. 

Paul Zuros, a Weirton local and lead Weirton Museum volunteer who helped curate the museum in Form Factory 1, said, “Working with the Form Energy team to help them create the exhibit was an honor for me as a historian and lifelong resident of Weirton. Including the history of Weirton Steel in the new factory continues the legacy started by E. T. Weir on that site back in 1909. I have no doubt that as the Form Factory expands, they will continue to be thoughtful and intentional about the history of the site and our community.”

Recently, Form Energy hosted an event to say thank you to the wider West Virginia community for helping make Form Factory 1 possible. At the event, City Manager of Weirton Mike Adams, said, “Form Energy took a place that looked rusty and dusty to everybody else and they looked through all of that and they found the inherent value of the people that live here and the people that work here – and we can’t be more appreciative for that opportunity. Changing this site gives us and our community a lot to be proud of, and a lot to have hope for.” 

Expansion construction has already begun, bringing Form Energy one step closer to having an annual production capacity of 500 megawatts and hiring at least 750 workers at Form Factory 1 by 2028.

View the Form Energy website here to see the latest photos of the factory and the lobby exhibit honoring the mill’s rich history.