(Advertisement)
Tube City Community Media Inc. is seeking freelance writers to help cover city council, news and feature stories in McKeesport, Duquesne, White Oak and the neighboring communities. High school and college students seeking work experience are encouraged to apply; we are willing to work with students who need credit toward class assignments. Please send cover letter, resume, two writing samples and the name of a reference (an employer, supervisor, teacher, etc. -- not a relative) to tubecitytiger@gmail.com.
Ads start at $1 per day, minimum seven days.
EOS Energy Secures $303.5M Federal Loan
Funding will expand Turtle Creek facility, could be used in Duquesne
By Staff Reports
The Tube City Almanac
December 06, 2024
Posted in: Duquesne News
Related Story: Duquesne OK’s EOS Plant in RIDC Park
A proposed battery manufacturing plant in Duquesne could benefit from a $303.5 million loan announced this week by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Biden Administration announced this week that the DOE has closed the loan guarantee with EOS Energy Enterprises to finance the construction of two new production lines at the company’s facility in Turtle Creek to produce the company’s “EOS Z3” industrial-scale electricity storage systems.
The guarantee includes $277.5 million in principal and $26 million in interest.
The production lines could produce enough storage batteries to power the annual electricity needs of 130,000 homes.
According to a DOE spokesperson, pending additional approvals, the loan also could guarantee two additional production lines at a proposed EOS Energy facility in Duquesne that would add 300 to 400 jobs in that city. City officials gave preliminary approval to EOS’s site plan at a city council meeting this week.
EOS Energy did not return a request from Tube City Almanac seeking comment.
Stefani Pashman, chief executive officer of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, congratulated EOS on the loan guarantee, which she called “a pivotal milestone on their pathway to growth, expansion (and) innovation.”
“With each step, we’ve been honored to work closely with the EOS team, and through continued partnership, we envision a bright future for the company in the Mon Valley and beyond,” Pashman said in a prepared statement. “With a rich legacy in strategic sectors, the Pittsburgh region sits at the convergence of energy and advanced manufacturing, providing opportunities for industries to evolve and grow, meeting the ever-changing needs as new frontiers in energy arise.”
In a prepared release, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the loan guarantee “will bolster the nation’s energy security while ensuring President Biden’s manufacturing boom continues to deliver for generations to come.”
According to a DOE spokesperson, all four lines of the project are expected to manufacture 8 gigawatt-hours of storage capacity annually by 2027, or enough to meet the annual electricity needs of approximately 130,000 homes if fully charged and discharged daily.
The project is expected to create and maintain up to 1,000 jobs, the Energy Department said in a statement.
EOS Energy manufactures utility-size storage batteries that store electricity when there is a surplus, then release it back into the power distribution network when the energy is needed.
Energy storage solutions are necessary to provide on-demand power when fossil-fuel generation plants are supplemented and replaced with green energy solutions, such as hydro, solar and wind turbines.
A DOE spokesperson said the energy storage market is still small but is “rapidly growing” and that long-term storage batteries, such as those manufactured by EOS, are necessary.
EOS uses zinc-bromide battery chemistry, which can store energy for longer periods of time compared to lithium-ion and lithium-iron phosphate battery technologies, according to DOE.
EOS batteries also are non-flammable and do not require active cooling to operate, DOE said.
DOE said that EOS is currently engaged in ongoing community outreach to develop its local workforce. The company is working with local educational institutions, state and local governments, and agencies such as Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, The Heinz Endowment and The Mon Metro Chamber of Commerce to ensure local community participation.
The loan guarantee is offered through the Department of Energy’s Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, which includes financing opportunities for innovative energy and supply chain projects, as well as projects that reinvest in existing energy infrastructure.
Originally published December 06, 2024.
In other news:
"Duquesne OK’s EOS Pla…" || "MASD Superintendent S…"