(TNS) — Grant County, once known primarily for agriculture, is quickly becoming a hub for electric vehicle batteries and green technology.
Abundant space, cheap electricity and government funding are supporting the transition.
But rapid growth also comes with some challenges, U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse said Friday at a forum with employees of Shira Nanotechnology, a battery parts maker in Moses Lake.
“This community is growing,” said Alex Fitzsimmons, Sila’s director of government affairs. “There’s a lot more manufacturing coming into the county and Shira is just a microcosm of that.”
The Alameda, Calif.-based company is renovating a 600,000-square-foot factory in Moses Lake and plans to create as many as 500 new jobs to make silicon anodes used in lithium-ion batteries. . Silicon anodes are a cutting-edge technology that has the potential to replace graphite anodes, which are less efficient and are primarily manufactured in China.
A $100 million grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act is part of the funding for the renovations. Sira is scheduled to begin production in January 2026, said factory manager Rosendo Alvarado.
Sira has a contract to supply Mercedes-Benz and electric vehicle battery maker Panasonic Energy.
The company isn’t the only battery company with big plans. Last month, Group14 Technologies won a $200 million grant, also from the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, to build a silane gas plant down the street and create 150 jobs. Silane gas is required to manufacture silicon anodes.
Yet another Moses Lake company, REC Silicon, supplies Silane gas to Sila.
Much of the world’s silane gas is also produced in China.
Newhouse, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives’ bipartisan Select Committee on the Communist Party of China, said it is important to reduce U.S. supply chain dependence on China. Beijing could use that trust as leverage against the United States, he said.
“That’s where companies like Sila can help,” Fitzsimmons said. “If Shira is successful, the U.S. will have a stronger supply chain.”
For downtown Washington, Newhouse said the two biggest challenges for these growing industries are training a skilled workforce and securing energy sources to meet demand.
To help train and recruit employees, Sila partners with local high schools and vocational training programs, as well as Big Bend Community College and Columbia Basin College.
Newhouse said it’s important to protect the Snake River dams, which are a major source of renewable hydropower.
If the dam is removed, Newhouse said, “it’s going to take the leg out from under this region once we start to lose a very valuable source of power.”
Newhouse pointed to the state’s projected population growth and said the need for power sources will only increase.
“We need to attract more energy sources, not undermine the energy we already have,” Newhouse said. He said this could be done in parallel with salmon preservation.
“I think it’s important to make sure that humanity can continue to thrive as well. I think we can do both,” Newhouse said.
Port of Moses Lake Director Dan Roach said the economic development agency is working hard to identify additional sources of power. The abundance of affordable hydropower fueled the initial technology boom, but meeting growing demand will be difficult.
“We don’t have an answer at this point,” Roach said. “We are considering all options.”
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