Inorganic battery technology firm Innolith plans to build two grid-scale energy storage systems in Maryland, US, to compliment its lithium-ion Gridbank system acquired from the defunct Alevo.
The two new battery storage facilities– 4.8MW and 7.3MW–should be operational in Washington County by late 2020 or 2021, according to local press reports who quoted Stephen Wiley, vice president of Innolith’s US business development.
Washington County Board of Commissioners approved a $400,000 tax break for the Swiss firm over a ten year period on the three facilities– including the Gridbank system, nicknamed Snook, thats operating on the PJM Energy Market.
Wiley told the commissioners the county’s high business personal property tax would jeopardise Innolith’s ability to build the two new facilities, reported news outlet Herald Mail Media.
Without the discount, the taxes on the projects would have cost around $1 million. The tax on the existing project isn’t expected to start until 2021.
The cost of the two new projects, plus the existing one, is reportedly around $10 million.
The company has also reportedly leased a warehouse in Williamsport, Washington County, for storage and repairs.
Innolith was launched in 2018 after acquiring the core technical assets of Alevo USA and Alevo Manufacturing (including Snook), which filed for bankruptcy as a result of insufficient finance and production challenges the previous year.
In 2016 the Board of County Commissioners approved PILOT agreements for three utility scale battery storage projects proposed in cooperation with the powered distribution firm Hagerstown Light Department, one project by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the others with Alevo USA.
Only the Snook project was built before Alevo went bankrupt.
Innolith Snook acquired the existing project and is seeking to revive the other two projects as well.