Groundbreaking has taken place for a manufacturing hub in West Virginia, US, to be powered by a large-scale solar-plus-storage microgrid.

West Virginia governor Jim Justice has signed off on a US$105 million grant to Form Energy for its iron-air battery plant in the state in a ceremony.

The power solutions arm of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will deploy three co-located battery storage projects for Origis Energy in the Southeast United States.

A newly-announced battery gigafactory in the US from startup SPARKZ will make batteries suitable for grid storage and will be built in the heart of Appalachian coal county in West Virginia. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s annual State of the State Address has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to combating climate change and growing the green economy, while West Virginia Governor Jim Justice’s address spoke of “fighting” to retain coal jobs.