New laws will boost REC Silicon bottom line

OSLO, Norway — Despite posting a loss for the second quarter of 2022, REC Silicon President and CEO James May said the restart of the company’s solar-grade polysilicon production facility in Moses Lake is looking better than originally forecast, thanks largely to major federal legislation aimed at creating and supporting solar power component production in the United States. Speaking during a conference call late Tuesday — early Wednesday morning in Norway, where the company has its headquarters and is publicly traded — May said REC Silicon is also negotiating an arrangement to sell 100% of its solar-grade polysilicon output to South Korean solar panel maker Hanwha Solutions, and expects that deal will be finalized later this year. “Moses Lake restart is looking better and better,” May said during the conference call.

REC posts loss, but CEO still optimistic

REC posts loss, but CEO still optimistic

Electric revolution: Basin companies at the forefront of energy change

MOSES LAKE — REC Silicon will resume production of solar-grade polysilicon at its facility in Moses Lake, according to CEO James May. May spoke during a conference call highlighting the company’s first quarter 2022 earnings.

REC Silicon reports on 3rd quarter

OSLO, Norway — REC Silicon announced the results of their third quarter of the fiscal year on Nov. 15. The company, which has a large re-opening and expanding facility in Moses Lake, is reporting revenues of $34.8 million in its third quarter compared to $36.7 million in the second. “We are focused on improving our underlying operational position despite the continuing weakness in the semiconductor segment and solar PV market. Our underlying EBITDA from our semiconductor materials has improved markedly compared to the same quarter last year when the industry entered the slump. We are poised well to benefit once the market recovers,” said REC CEO Kurt Levens. The company reported that silicon gas sales volumes for the third quarter were 754 million tons compared with 849 metric tonnes during the second quarter. The total polysilicon sales volumes for the third quarter were 199 MT.

Deep charge: Group14 breaks ground on Moses Lake factory, looks to electrified future

MOSES LAKE — Group14 Technologies was begun as something of an afterthought. “Group14 is actually a spin-off of another battery technology company called EnerG2,” said Eric Robinson, the chief operating officer for the Woodinville-based battery materials startup. “The silicon-carbon composite, that idea came out of EnerG2, and they really thought it had promise, but the people who bought EenrG2 weren’t really interested in that technology.” Robinson sat in what is still mostly an empty office building on Wheeler Road. There’s little in the way of furniture or accouterments in these bare offices — laptop computers with external monitors sit atop folding plastic tables. The nicest things anyone has are their Aeron-like office chairs and their company shirts and jackets.

Sila breaks ground on Washington facility

MOSES LAKE — Sila Nanotechnologies officially opened its Moses Lake plant Nov. 29. “This moment has been 12 years in the making,” said Gene Berdichevsky, co-founder and CEO of Sila. “And the journey to this point can be summed up, really, in two words: passion and persistence. Many startups have origin stories that began in a garage, but we were not that cool. We started out in a windowless basement lab of Georgia Tech. Back then there were only 13 of us, working shoulder to shoulder back to back literally intent on doing what we believed – what many believed — was impossible.”

'Holy grail': Enhancement process could make EVs more efficient, practical

MOSES LAKE — Americans like to drive. What Americans don’t like is the cost of filling their gas tank. In recent years, electric vehicles, powered with a rechargeable battery, have been presented as a possible solution. It would seem a match made in heaven for the Inland Northwest; Washington has the second-highest gasoline prices and the third-highest diesel prices in the country, according to the American Automobile Association, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, eastern Washington enjoys some of the lowest electricity costs. Problem solved, right? Well, no. The lithium-ion batteries that power EVs are expensive to manufacture, and thus expensive for the consumer. They can only go so long between charges, and the charging process can take hours in between drives. What’s needed, then, is a battery that lasts longer and charges faster.

Powering affordability

OneD Battery Sciences plant almost online

MOSES LAKE — More affordable electric vehicles are on the way. That was the takeaway from a tour that OneD Battery Sciences offered to a small contingent of Moses Lake community members Thursday afternoon at the company’s SINANODE plant on Road N Northeast.

EPA says fewer chemical releases in Pacific Northwest

OLYMPIA — Fewer toxic chemicals were released into the environment in the Pacific Northwest over the last few years, according to an announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency on March 17.

Sila’s Moses Lake plant opening on track

MOSES LAKE — According to Sila Nanotechnologies Vice President Chris Dougher, the opening of Sila’s Moses Lake manufacturing plant, which will eventually mass produce the company’s Titan Silicon anode, has been going well and is on track “The first really big milestone, or public milestone, was the groundbreaking in November,” Dougher said. “We had the (Department of Energy) here, as well as a handful of customers with Mercedes and others that came on-site and celebrated the early work that we’re doing out back getting our foundations in.” Sila purchased the Moses Lake site, 160 acres and a 600,000 square foot building located on Road N Northeast, about a year and a half ago, Dougher said.

A calling followed: Kersey leaves Moses Lake port to head up Group14 plant

MOSES LAKE — Don Kersey said that, for him, the manufacturing sector holds an irresistible appeal. Kersey is the new manager of the Group14 Technologies facility under construction in Moses Lake. “Manufacturing, I think once it gets into your system, it never goes away,” he said. “I thought it would — but about a year and a half ago, for lack of a better word, I felt this calling to get back into manufacturing,” he said. Previously Kersey was the manager at Joyson Safety Systems before becoming executive director of the Port of Moses Lake. “There’s a certain controlled chaos that goes along with manufacturing that — it’s something you just feel. I need that, and I’m extremely fortunate to be at Group14,” he said.

Group14 releases third quarter review

MOSES LAKE — Group14 Technology released its third quarter review Oct. 19, which said the company ramped up construction on its incoming one million-square-foot Moses Lake battery active materials factory, labeled “BAM-2.” According to the announcement, BAM-2 construction is currently five stories high and is on track to finish construction in 2024. The announcement stated that this project would provide 20-gigawatt hours of silicon battery capacity annually and hundreds of jobs.

Officials: Eastern Washington could be clean energy hub

MOSES LAKE — Eastern Washington could be ground zero for clean energy, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, said Feb. 22. “I think there’s going to be a corridor, from Moses Lake all the way over to Coeur d’Alene,” Cantwell said. “That’s what I think is gonna happen. And this corridor is also going to connect from Moses Lake to the Tri-Cities.” Cantwell was speaking at Group14’s BAM-2 facility in Moses Lake, which is under construction and expected to be the largest advanced silicon battery material factory in the world when it opens later this year, according to company-supplied materials. Group14 manufactures silicon battery materials that can increase the storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries like those found in both electric vehicles and smartphones, replacing less-efficient graphite, which must be imported from China.

Solving complex problems is a human superpower

Solving complex problems is a human superpower

Preparing for the future: Workforce education, innovation start locally, Commerce director says

MOSES LAKE — Mike Fong, director of the Washington Department of Commerce, said workforce training and economic innovation start locally. “We want to strengthen communities and help communities build their own capacity and potential,” Fong said while he was in Moses Lake Oct. 16. “And we don’t want to dictate that. We really want to help that vision become reality. And that’s a local vision.” Fong was in Moses Lake to learn about economic and business development in Grant County, talking to Port of Moses Lake and Big Bend Community College officials, touring businesses and BBCC’s Workforce Education Services facility.

Year in review: A look back at the top topics of 2023

Each year flies by a little faster than we’d like as we cover the economy of the Columbia Basin. This year, we’ve had a chance to see just how diversified that economy is. From potatoes to green energy to aeronautical development, the Basin has a bit of everything. Below, we have summaries of several of the more important stories we’ve covered this year.

Washington Wine Growers Conference schedule

Washington Wine Growers Conference schedule

Hoopfest continues to grow post-pandemic

SPOKANE — More than 4,700 teams took to the streets of downtown Spokane for Hoopfest 2024 last month, the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament on the planet that features nearly 400 basketball courts littered across the streets of Spokane. “It’s always one of the best times of the year,” said Riley Stockton, executive director of the Spokane Hoopfest Association. “We got really lucky with the weather, the turnout of people, the amount of teams we had. We had a great Hoopfest, and were thrilled with the way it turned out.” There are numerous different brackets at each Hoopfest, which was held on June 29 and 30 – there’s elite-level competition, youth brackets and senior divisions as well as brackets for those with developmental and physical disabilities. Teams at the tournament have a three-game guarantee, playing in a double-elimination bracket.

Moses Lake Industries: A commitment to hard work and community

MOSES LAKE — There’s a good chance you have never heard of Moses Lake Industries. But there’s a nearly certain chance you’ve used something made possible by the company’s products — a cellphone, a laptop, a widescreen television.

Grant County Economic Development Council turns 30

MOSES LAKE — Thirty years. That’s how long the Grant County Economic Development Council has been around, helping keep and attract new business to what is a very large and very diverse county.