Amprius Technologies, the developer of the next-generation lithium-ion battery Silicon Anode Platform, has announced that it and the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) mutually agreed to end the negotiation of a previously announced cost-shared demonstration project.
Amprius thanked the DOE for the invitation to participate in the negotiations for this funding award and appreciates the support it has received from the DOE over the years and looks forward to future partnership opportunities.
In March of 2023, Amprius announced plans to build a gigawatt-scale factory in Brighton, Colorado for its next-generation lithium-ion batteries with its Silicon Anode Platform. The DOE funding of $50 million was only a portion of the expected cost to complete the initial phase of 500 MWh production.
This facility is planned to create 330 full-time jobs and is still expected to be operational by 2025. Amprius plans to continue its commercialization plans that include a multi-phased approach.
As Amprius works to meet the significant demand for its ultra-high energy density lithium-ion batteries, it remains unchanged in its focus on achieving mass production scale and delivering on its product roadmap. Amprius said that the decision to exit the DOE program provides it with significantly more operational flexibility in scale, vendor and supply chain management, product portfolio development and speed required for the success of large-scale manufacturing of Amprius’ high energy density batteries in the United States.
Amprius’ current level of battery performance demonstrates that the company has the capability to deliver battery cells using its proprietary anode technology that have a specific energy and energy density that approach 2X the performance of graphite cells currently available for purchase. Amprius’ commercially available batteries today deliver up to 450 Wh/kg and 1,150 Wh/L, the industry’s highest known energy density cells available on the market today.
Most recently the company’s batteries were independently verified to perform at 500 Wh/kg and 1,300 Wh/L. Amprius has military, commercial and defense segment customers who are integrating this capacity into their product plans in order to serve critical national security needs.