GE to Invest $100 million in Green Battery Plant

This blog has brought up the significance of electricity storage in at least a couple of posts. In a sign that major market players are taking storage seriously, General Electric announced this week it will invest $100 million in a new battery plant near Albany, N.Y.

The plant will start producing batteries by 2011. At full capacity, it will turn out 10 million cells a year, with a total storage capacity of 900 MWh.

GE has so far invested more than $150 million in battery technology. The first batteries from its new plant will find applications in GE's hybrid locomotives. Long-term, the batteries will be used in the rail, marine, telecommunications and utility industries.

GE believes over the next decade, the advanced battery business could be a $1 billion business.