LEGISLATORS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY gathered inside a new battery factory along Richmond’s waterfront this past week to learn about advances in energy storage technology.
Adjacent to the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond is a 40,000-square-foot battery factory for the industrial manufacturer Viridi, which plans to rapidly expand its workforce as it ramps up production on the West Coast.
Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez was present at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility in April, but returned Wednesday to speak to legislators who had traveled from as far as South Carolina and Ohio to tour the facility.
“The goal is to strengthen our ability to support clean energy and manufacturing and to provide companies with consistent points of context from day one,” said Martinez. “This service ties with a much larger vision for our shorelines. We are reimagining a working waterfront that honors the Rosie legacy while preparing for a cleaner future and the manufacturing industry and support staff.”
The factory opened after receiving a $9 million grant from the California Energy Commission. It is the second factory for Viridi, after the one at their headquarters in Buffalo, New York. The Richmond facility produces electric generators that have the capacity to power home, industrial, and even larger energy intensive needs.
Viridi president Eric Stein said the facility has the capacity to grow the workforce from the current size of 12 employees to a possible 75 within the next few months. He said the demand for batteries and generators, such as the ones they produce, is rapidly growing and the company can capitalize on using automation to meet demand while also adding skilled jobs.
“… We are reimagining a working waterfront that honors the Rosie legacy while preparing for a cleaner future and the manufacturing industry and support staff.”
Mayor Eduardo Martinez
“There’s a lot of automation that we can bring in, not to displace workers, but to actually expand, to build more products here and bring more people,” said Stein. “So one of the great things about our workforce is when we go to automation, we actually uplift the skill set, because we take people who were assembling product and turning screwdrivers and we train them on higher-end automation and robotics.”
Seeing green
Tess Williams, a project manager with Viridi, proudly spoke into a microphone as she walked backwards leading the tour. She said the company’s most popular product, the RPS150, has been used in hospitals, by emergency responders, and even at the Burning Man music festival. According to Williams, the company is making an effort to minimize their carbon footprint in Richmond during production and when their products reach the end of their service lives.
“We’re a green energy company. We’re not just going to throw these things out when we’re done,” said Williams. “Like anything at the end of its life, there are some parts of it that get thrown out, but 90-plus percent of the unit is reusable, recyclable, or goes to that company that can recycle them at that point, and it’s something we take pride in.”
One of the out-of-state legislators who traveled to learn more about the new technology was Ohio State Rep. Tristan Rader, who represents parts of Cleveland and Lakewood. He said it was encouraging to see many other legislators also in attendance as his home state attempts to address energy affordability issues.
“Both Democrats, Republicans are finally getting together saying we have got to deal with this affordability issue,” said Rader. “And we’re like, why don’t we open the door to all these different types of energy, not just coal, gas, and oil. If it’s cheaper then why not try to bring that to people.”