General Electric is to reduce the production capacity at its sodium nickel battery factory in Schenectady, US, after facing a lack of orders.
GE will also move a “significant portion” of hourly plant workers at the facility to its steam turbine and generator operations at another site. The plans will affect 400 people currently working at the Schenectady plant, which will be downsized to 50 people over the next months.
GE originally developed the sodium nickel batteries for use in locomotives, but entered the market for on-demand energy storage and backup power in 2013 with its so-called Durathon energy storage system. According to the US firm, the Durathon batteries are half the size of conventional lead-acid batteries but last ten times longer.
The company said that the energy storage market for batteries and industrial-scale storage is evolving slowly. “GE is still committed to the energy storage business. Our goal is to build a long-term product and commercial strategy that better serves our customers’ evolving energy storage needs,” said GE spokesman Nik Noel. The company emphasised that it is not planning to shut down the plant.
Two years ago, the Shenectady plant was considered to be worth $1 billion.
Production at the plant had already been disrupted since September when GE issued a temporary lack-of-work order.