Walls set to start going up this month at Group14

MOSES LAKE — Construction is underway on a new facility in Moses Lake to produce silicon materials that will, its owners say, contribute to making substantial improvements to the next generation of batteries.

Grant Ray, vice president for global market strategy for Group14, said the company’s new facility on Wheeler Road will produce an important component in the quest to produce batteries that last longer and are quicker to charge.

“We make material that you can use in your traditional lithium ion batteries, and transform it into silicon batteries, which gives it about 50% more energy density and allows for really, really fast charging,” Ray said.

The company broke ground on its Moses Lake facility in April. Its existing facility in Woodinville produces about 120 tons of silicon-based battery components per year, Ray said.

“We’ve got a joint venture in South Korea that’s coming online. It’s past mechanical completion,” Ray said, and is scheduled to start production later this year.

“In Moses Lake, we’ve got two modules coming online, and that’ll (start production) in 2024. Each module puts out 2,000 tons per year,” Ray said. “So Moses Lake will start out at 4,000 tons capacity. And go up from there.”

The facilities are designed so each section, called a module, can begin operation while others are still under construction.

“When one module goes up, that factory turns on. So we just add modules,” he said.

That allows production to start while other sections are still being completed, he said, rather than waiting for one large structure. Each section will have the capacity to produce about 2,000 tons per year.

Silicon-component batteries will be important for all-electric vehicles, which are expected to increase their share of the car market. But the benefits of silicon can be applied to all battery-powered applications, Ray said.

“The time it takes to charge a car is about the time it would take to fill your tank with gas,” Ray said. “But it can also be used in all of your rechargeable batteries. So that means smartphones, earpods, laptops - anything that uses rechargeable batteries, even helping e-aviation take off as well.”

Silicon battery components have presented a technical challenge.

“The challenge has always been, the way they’re using it, silicon works really well a few times, and then it starts to really degrade the life and capabilities of the battery,” Ray said.

The Group14 process is designed to avoid that breakdown.

“What we’ve done is we’ve taken the silicon and we basically put it inside a carbon scaffold, is what we call it. So by weight, it’s half silicon, half carbon, but by volume, it’s one-third silicon, one-third carbon and one-third void space. So it allows that silicon to expand and contract without causing things to break down inside the battery,” Ray said.

Battery component manufacturers have to solve yet a third problem, Ray said, designing their products to be used by existing manufacturers in existing facilities. Group14 owners believe they’ve solved that too, and that will help provide longevity for their product in the battery market, he said.

The technology is already in use in industry, he said.

“It’s in cell phones right now on the market. And we also have a partnership with Porsche - it’s going to be supplied to Porsche for (electric vehicle) batteries in 2024,” Ray said.

Group14 has been partnering with REC Silicon at REC’s Moses Lake facility for about four years. The Moses Lake location provides access to carbon-free hydropower and, with REC Silicon restarting production, easier access to the materials needed for manufacturing, he said. The foundation should be completed and the walls going up sometime this month.

“Lots of action is happening out there,” he said.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.