A $23 million battery testing and commercialization center is set to relocate to Eastman Business Park Governor Cuomo announced today.
Netherlands-based energy consultancy company, DNV KEMA is moving their energy storage laboratory from Pennsylvania to Rochester, with the 17,000 square foot facility slated to be open by December 2013.
The project will include investment of up to $16 million by the company as well as nearly $7 million in state grant funds from the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST).
NY-BEST executive director William Acker says the facility will attract more investment in the state’s energy storage industry.
“We believe this will act as a magnet for the industry in New York state in creating a focal point that will grow the economy substantially.”
The laboratory is expected to accelerate the transition from breakthroughs in technology research to the manufacturing of marketable energy storage technologies.
Acker says the expertise and testing capabilities of the new facility will be a great resource for many local companies in the battery technology industry.
“It’s not like a software company where you get a couple of people around the computer and you make a company. You really need to do a lot of testing, you need to do a lot of product development that involves testing and prototyping all of which is quite expensive and requires unique equipment and unique skills that many companies, and in fact most companies, do not have,” he says.
“What this does is it creates an entire suite of testing and prototyping capabilities that will allow companies to try out their ideas, improve their ideas, and then as they get closer to product actually test the product and prove to the customers that the product works. That will allow them to enter the marketplace.”
Governor Cuomo said in a statement that the partnership will also assist in reviving the state’s economy and creating jobs, as well as encouraging the growth of clean energy technology.
“This collaboration will spur innovation in the development of critical energy storage technology, helping to improve reliability and resiliency in New York’s electric grid and creating good jobs in the Rochester area. I am happy that DNV KEMA has chosen to expand their operations in New York State, and look forward to working with them to grow our clean-energy economy.”